Silver Shards
by SilentLine
Summary: Myk Linear has a nightmare of the ultimate AC! This is his journey to discover what he truly is... Rated PG-13 for some bad language and the usuall stuff. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! Chapter 27 added!
1. Characters

Name: Myk Linear (since this is in first person, its you)  
  
Gender: male  
  
Age: 23  
  
Height: 6' 4"  
  
Weight: 157 lbs.  
  
Hair color: brown  
  
Eye color: brown  
  
AC name: 9-Ball (named this because he is hoping that he will eventually reach A-1 in the arena)  
  
AC type: Middleweight humanoid with quad missiles, laser blade, machine gun, and relation missiles  
  
Raven rank: C-14  
  
Arena history: Joined the arena as an extra way to earn a night's dinner. Eventually discovered that the easy money of the E ranks was too easy and decided to climb higher. Used the D ranks kind of as a AC test to try out new weapons. Competes in the C rank because it actually proves to be challenging, and the money is enough to feed him and his AC's needs.  
  
Bio: Born into a moderately rich family, Myk disliked the lifestyle of the rich and ran away from home and stole some of his parent's money to start life as a raven at age 17. Started as an MT pilot and became a raven at age 21. He is a "fight for your rights" kind of warrior, but occasionally has a soft side and has mercy on defeated opponents. He is a master of missiles. He dislikes shields and rockets. He has extraordinary piloting and weapon skills.  
  
~  
  
Name: Soni Windell  
  
Gender: female  
  
Age: 21  
  
Height: 5' 11"  
  
Weight: 112 lbs.  
  
Hair color: blonde  
  
Eye color: green  
  
AC name: N/A  
  
AC type: Basic starting AC  
  
Raven rank: E-97  
  
Arena history: Very new to the arena, she is rank E-97 because of the deaths of rank E-99, E-98, and E-97 immediately after she signed up to the arena.  
  
Bio: Definition of newbie, she has had absolutely no battle MT experience and no AC battle experience. Although she doesn't have enough money to buy new weapons and parts to reveal a specific style, she has told Global Cortex that she prefers rifles and missiles and dislikes heavy weapons and powerful ones. She became a raven to prove to her father that she isn't the ditz he thinks she is. Known for being flirtatious.  
  
~  
  
Name: Lynn Dawnings  
  
Gender: female  
  
Age: 22  
  
Height: 6'1"  
  
Weight: 128 lbs.  
  
Hair color: light brown  
  
Eye color: hazel  
  
AC name: Halo  
  
AC type: Lightweight humanoid with sniper rifle, laser blade, and small missile launcher  
  
Raven rank: D-12  
  
Arena history: Joined the arena at rank D-50, completely skipping the E ranks. Her father bumped her up to the D ranks, since her father is currently ranked A-4. She has not been competing in the arena for quite some time, due to her slight dislike of killing people for entertainment.  
  
Bio: Daughter of a prosperous raven, she inherited lots of money to become a raven from her father. Has been an MT pilot since she was 18 and became a raven at age 21. She is very capable and is not to be underestimated. Prefers handguns, small missiles, and rifles of any sort. Dislikes any weapon designed for heavyweights. She is an extraordinary sniper and marksman.  
  
~  
  
Name: Todd Versailles  
  
Gender: male  
  
Age: 24  
  
Height: 6' 6"  
  
Weight: 174 lbs.  
  
Hair color: light brown  
  
Eye color: dark brown  
  
AC name: Blue Fire  
  
AC type: Middleweight humanoid with a rifle, medium missile launcher, and chain gun  
  
Raven rank: C-13  
  
Arena history: A recent arena contender, he has quickly risen through the ranks. He has recently has defeated rank C-14, a rival but good friend of Todd, after several losses against Myk.  
  
Bio: A good friend of Myk Linear, he is mainly a mission raven. Prefers middleweight ACs and also middleweight weapons. Master of dodging and strafing. Rarely takes damage during battles. Dislikes heavyweights, claiming that they are too slow.  
  
~  
  
Name: Shawn Biddens  
  
Gender: male  
  
Age: 31  
  
Height: 6' 5"  
  
Weight: 197 lbs.  
  
Hair color: brown  
  
Eye color: brown  
  
AC name: Destroyer  
  
AC type: Tank AC with twin grenade launchers and linear cannon  
  
Raven rank: C-8  
  
Arena history: An excellent contender, he is an arena favorite. He has been never been defeated in the arena, and is most likely A rank material, but he rarely competes in the arena.  
  
Bio: Your average raven, has had much experience, but still has things to learn. Known to get carried away during battles and may attack merciless. Excels in heavyweight ACs and tanks. Believes lightweight ACs are the worst kind of AC. Prefers explosive weapons and highly damaging grenades.  
  
~  
  
Name: Scott Raymir  
  
Gender: male  
  
Age: 45  
  
Height: 6' 6"  
  
Hair color: black and gray  
  
Eye color: Dark brown  
  
AC name: Hellfire  
  
AC type: Heavyweight humanoid with rocket launcher, howitzer, and vertical missile launcher  
  
Raven Rank: A-9  
  
Arena history: He has fought many battles. He currently holds the best raven win-loss record of over 400 wins and zero losses. He hasn't advanced higher than A-9 because he believes he is getting too old. Only fights lower-rank ravens nowadays.  
  
Bio: A very experienced raven, he has fought more battles than anyone currently in the arena. Known for pushing his AC to the limit, he goes on many suicide attempts, but always comes out the victor. Prefers close range weapons, and powerful rocket launchers.  
  
There are other characters in the story, but have minor roles. 


	2. History

History  
  
I added this history section for my fanfic so any people who are new to armored core, or want to go in depth on what happened before my story can read this. SOME OF IT MAY BE INACCURATE, but this is how I want it to be. It's not too far from what really happened though.  
  
Timeline:  
  
2031 - Japanese invent the first MT, start of the Mechanical Era  
  
2037 - America invents the AC, Robot Arms Race begins  
  
2057 - World War 3, Nuclear Arms Race begins again  
  
2061 - American researchers begin to make plans to create a massive weapon that uses nuclear energy and focuses it into a beam  
  
2069 - The world begins to descend into anarchy, no more concept of countries, just any group of people trying to kill eachother  
  
2081 - The "massive weapon" is finished  
  
2082 - The "massive weapon" is launched into space  
  
2083 - The "massive weapon" is fired at Earth for the first time, it is fired 5 more times that year  
  
2085 - End of World War 3, the world is heavily scorched, popularity of underground bunkers sprout, massive underground shelters are constructed  
  
2092 - A group of terrorists high-jack the "massive weapon", it is fired 162 times that year, the terrorists are all killed by a security device on the massive weapon, this year is known as the "Great Destruction"  
  
Earth Year (EY) 0 - Great Destruction  
  
EY 0 - Humans hide in the giant underground bunkers that were made to cover people from the nuclear warheads, these bunkers are interlinked and become "towns", sense of date is lost, culture is forgotten, all forms of money become discarded  
  
EY 7 - Earth Year date system is established, Credits become the accepted form of currency (1 Cr. = 30¢)  
  
EY 33 - Mercenary group called "The Ravens" is established  
  
EY 52 - AC parts company called Chrome rises to a corporation power, construction corporation named Murakumo begins to produce AC parts, high tensions between Chrome and Murakumo signal the start of the Corporation Wars that still go on  
  
EY 88 - Humans return to the surface  
  
EY 96 - Fall of Chrome, the Second Great Destruction is single-handedly thwarted by a single, unknown raven  
  
EY 108 - Arena battling becomes an official sport  
  
EY 129 - The first revolution, known as Project Phantasma is destroyed by a single raven  
  
EY 131 - Fall of Murakumo  
  
EY 134 - The second revolution, no true "revolutioners", instead a flaw in "auto-ACs", was ceased by a single Raven  
  
EY 197 - Establishment of the Earth Government  
  
EY 201 - Raven's Nest is outlawed  
  
EY 284 - Mars Expeditions Begin  
  
EY 291 - Terra-forming of Mars is completed, Mars is now open for immigrants  
  
EY 299 - Zio Matrix Earth is formed  
  
EY 300 - Emeraude is formed on Mars  
  
EY 301 - Balena is formed on Mars  
  
EY 302 - Zio Matrix Mars is formed, a branch of Zio Matrix Earth  
  
EY 345 - Martian Revolution, Establishment of Klein's Fellowship, Decline in influence of the Earth Government, a revolution led by Klein, aimed at the destruction of Mars, it is single-handedly stopped by an unknown Raven, Phobos is destroyed, Klein's Fellowship is established, democracy reinvented  
  
EY 347 - Chrome is reborn, renames itself Crest  
  
EY 350 - Zio Matrix Earth renames itself Mirage to separate itself from Zio Matrix Mars  
  
EY 354 - Myk Linear, main character of my fanfic is born  
  
EY 361 - Kirasagi is formed on Earth  
  
EY 381 - Myk runs away from home, starts as an MT  
  
EY 385 - Myk becomes a Raven  
  
EY 387 - Year which my fanfic begins, Martians attempt to overthrow the Earth Government and convert Earth into a democratic society  
  
WARNING! This next part is going to be the FUTURE of this fanfic and may spoil some parts!  
  
EY 388 - People of Layered emerge, Earth Government declares war on Mars, Layered declares war on Earth Government, Earth Government orders the re- establishment of Murakumo to mass-produce a special MT, Deimos is the second massive weapon, Martians attempt to use Deimos against Earth  
  
Societies:  
  
This section is so that you can learn what is going on in Myk's time period  
  
Earth  
  
Government: Earth Government  
  
Type: Dictatorship, very little influence, Earth is now divided into city- states, as in the cities are their own little "countries"  
  
People: Taller than Martians and Layered, "Earthlings" are light to medium skin color, since they have been exposed to actual sunlight for 300 years. They have a diverse range of hair and eye colors. They have average strength and below-average mechanical skills, since they don't have any real need to study them  
  
Strength: Population. They have over twice as more humans than Layered and Mars combined. They also have advantage over the battlefield, since everyone is fighting over their land  
  
Weakness: No organization. Earth government's influence over surface dwellers has decreased to being almost non-existent since the Martian revolution. People only fight to protect their own cities, hence the city- state form of society.  
  
Main cities: Neo Isaac (One of the oldest cities), Neo Zion (Center for many corporations, therefore it is very dangerous), Skyline City (Largest and most technologically advanced city on Earth), Cliff Side (A unique city, it is in a big canyon and has an average-sized city at the top of the cliff, and massive tunnels in the wall of the cliff. Trains and monorails are main modes of transportation to go up, down, and across the cliff wall), Oceania (Underwater city specializing in research and massive weapons)  
  
Mars  
  
Government: Klein's Fellowship  
  
Type: Democracy, it is hardly a fellowship, it was named that because originally the leaders were followers of Klein. Mars has made itself into one, big country  
  
People: Very similar to humans, since they were separated only about 50 years ago. They are usually dark-haired and have a kind of light to medium reddish skin, though still very close to the resemblance of earthlings. They are slightly shorter, have slightly more strengh, and have a better understanding of mechanics than earthlings  
  
Strengths: With technology developed by Zio Matrix Mars that they took from dissecting automated "aliens" called disorder units, they have above- average weaponry and technology  
  
Weaknesses: It takes 6 months to reach earth to Mars. Supply lines are extremely slow  
  
Main cities: Unknown  
  
Layered  
  
Government: Union  
  
Type: Communist, ex-monarchy, The Controller, a giant computer, would govern the massive underground city of Layered, recently overthrown by a single Raven, it is now led by the Union  
  
People: Smallest of the 3 kinds of humans, they average about 5' 10". They are pale in skin due to the lack of actual sunlight for about 400 years. They usually have blonde to brown hair. They have below-average strength, but have the best understanding of mechanics. People are taught mechanics primarily since mechanics practically make the whole city of Layered move.  
  
Strengths: Defense, they don't have to leave the city of layered, and therefore could easily defend it  
  
Weaknesses: Population is small compared to surface dwellers, so offensive forces are extremely small  
  
Main cities: It's one big city! Layered is in layers, and most of these layers are much, much larger than the biggest surface cities  
  
Note: When humans returned to the surface in EY 88, some humans stayed in the underground cities, and were forgotten for 300 years. Neither surface dwellers nor the people of Layered were aware the other existed.  
  
Games:  
  
This section is miscellaneous. If you want to see where the AC games take place in my story, here they are  
  
Armored Core: EY 88 to EY 96  
  
Project Phantasma: EY 129  
  
Master of the Arena: EY 134  
  
Armored Core 2: EY 345  
  
Another Age: Anytime after EY 345, Another Age has no specific date, it is the life of a normal Raven on Mars after the Martian Revolution  
  
Armored Core 3: EY 388 (My story starts just before AC3) 


	3. Chapter One: The Dream

My AC boosted down the long, dark, and narrow hallway to the end, where there was a big steel door. Something about this hallway was not right. The lack of windows-or even lights-created a dark and suspenseful. The only light was the glow of my boosters and their reflection on the steel door up ahead. The hallway itself was a rusted red color, similar to old bloodstains. I checked my MG/500 and multi-missiles and prepared them just in case there was something to challenge me behind the door. I pulled out the holo-keyboard from the bottom of my HUD and started hacking into the door lock.  
  
About a minute passed and the door began to open. I quickly put the holo- keyboard back in its place and readied my machine gun. The damn door was so slow. Peeking through the growing hole in the middle, there was a big room behind it. A really big room. Probably the size of an arena. The entire room was shaped in a kind of "+" sign, and had an elevated platform in the middle with ramps marked with yellow and black on the side. The walls were a dark blood-red color with brown areas where rust was. The floor and ceiling were a similar color to the hallway. There were doors similar to the one I was just coming out of on all the ends of the "+".  
  
The door was finally open and I boosted straight into the room in case anyone was waiting next to the door to ambush me. No one. This only began to make it more suspenseful. I walked closer to the elevated platform when I heard a door open. On the other side of the platform, the door was opening. Since it was just as slow as mine, I could notice the figure that was emerging. It had a similar shape to an AC, but was very smooth. It looked like one of those wood poseable figures people use in art classes, except each body part looked like a silver raindrop than a wood oval. The thing was completely silver and had no weapons. Hell, it didn't even have hands!  
  
As soon as the door was fully open, the head with a single red light in the center looked up at me. The whole "thing" began to glow red, like I pissed it off just by standing there. Then blue light erupted from behind it and it began to boost at me at a very high speed. At first, I thought this MT was on a suicide attempt and I prepared my laser blade. But before I could even put my finger to the blade activator, two laser blades extended from each its arms, counting 4 in total. These purplish-red blades were longer than even the longest blade ever marketed. I guessed they had a range rating of at least 12.  
  
This scared the shit out of me, so I prepared my machine gun and was waiting for a lock.but one never came. The sleek shape of the MT must have given it a kind of "cloaking" ability to throw off radars and FCS locks. But who needs those? I boosted straight up and fired my machinegun without the lock. It's a machine gun! They shoot in a spray, so it doesn't matter if I had a lock or not, all that matters is that I'm in the general direction.  
  
Taking a few hits on its sleek silver surface, the MT kept boosting forward, stopped, and turned around. The braking and turning rate of the MT was phenomenal! I continued to fire machine gun rounds at it, and the silver surface began to become dented and punctured. I figured I can beat this MT if I just stayed at a distance, since it looked like it only had close-range weapons.  
  
Boy, was I dead wrong.  
  
The whole MT began to vibrate enough that I could see it. The MT flinched a bit, and I thought it was going to explode, but the silver "raindrops" were exactly what they were. Instantly the dents and cracks I made on the armor melted and became like new. Once the MT finished repairing itself, its arms began to vibrate and then transformed into two big cannons with some sort of green crystal in the center of the barrels. Once completing changing its arms, the green crystals began to spin and glow green. Then the crystals shot straight out of the barrel, coming straight at me.  
  
O shit! I thought to myself as I saw the two green beams come right at me. I boosted up to avoid the attack, and I went right towards the MT to go in for a laser blade attack. Hopefully my laser blade can cut it in half or something, before it can repair itself.  
  
I charged straight to the MT, but the damn thing must have known what I was doing and morphed back to laser blade arms right before I got to it.  
  
Shit! I thought to myself.  
  
The thing went into a sword frenzy, trying to rip off as many parts of my AC as it can. I boosted straight back and checked my armor. Well, to check if I still even had any limbs. My entire left arm, my machine gun, and my multi-missile launcher have been severely damaged or blown completely off. I was basically screwed as shit.  
  
I boosted up and left, trying to get to one of the doors. Well hey, if you can't beat 'em, RUN LIKE HELL!  
  
One of the arms of the MT began to shake, and what emerged looked like a sort of gun, unlike the crystal-shooting cannon, this one had a much shorter barrel. Immediately rays of green machine gun fire came at my AC. The velocity of the energy bolts was very fast, fast enough that I couldn't dodge them. My AC was struck to the ground. The computer was beeping and giving me all kinds of warnings. I was sitting there, completely hopeless, and the silver MT came towards me. When it was right above my AC, it looked down and activated its right arm blade. The MT lifted up its arm, and plunged it straight into my AC's cockpit. Then a bright white flash.  
  
~  
  
I woke up in a cold sweat.  
  
"Damn, what time is it?"  
  
"3:26 AM, sir," said the female voice of the computer.  
  
"That was some weird dream," I said.  
  
"What was it of, sir?" asked the computer, sounding passionate, but I programmed it to do so.  
  
"Nothing, just a bad nightmare," I replied.  
  
I went back to sleep, trying not to think about that silver MT.  
  
That morning, I woke up, barely rested, and headed downstairs for breakfast. After eating some eggs, I went in the shower because all the sweat from the night made me real grimy. While in the shower, I pondered about the dream.  
  
"Is this dream signaling my death?" I thought to myself. I figured that it might not mean anything at all, and thinking too much about the dream could signal my death anyway. I decided to take my mind off the subject and got out of the shower. I got dressed in my favorite black and dark gray shirt and a pair of black pants. I put some gel in my brown hair and spiked it up. I then got my sunglasses and headed to the rec. room of the Neo Isaac City Global Cortex.  
  
I went down the hall to the elevator. Some of the ravens who can't afford homes stay at the apartments in the Global Cortex building. I went down to the mission room to see if any interesting ones have come up. None. Bored as hell, I went down to the rec. room to find stuff to do. There, I played some pool with my friend Todd. I explained to him my dream.  
  
"Dude, that's a load of bull. Are you going to let some fantasy nightmare get to you?" Todd scolded, "If anything, thinking about the dream will kill you, not the dream"  
  
"Yeah, I kinda figured that out myself" I replied, "8-ball left pocket" I said as I won the game.  
  
"Aww damn"  
  
"You may have been able to beat me in the arena, but I can still kick your ass in pool"  
  
"Myk Linear, please report to the registration desk" announced the intercom.  
  
"Heh, you're in trouble now" Todd joked. Immature bastard. I knew I wasn't in trouble, since I haven't done anything wrong recently.  
  
Well, nothing I can remember. 


	4. Chapter Two: Soni Windell

I walked down the blue-metal hallways of the Global Cortex to the registration desk. The whole building was in the shape of a hexagon, with small buildings branching off of it. Registration was in the south "wedge" of the hexagon.  
  
"Ah, there you are, Myk" said the desk clerk, "A new raven has joined our branch and needs to be shown around."  
  
"Damn, I don't want to show some damn rookie around, he's probably going to think I'm like is best friend or something" I said.  
  
"Are you saying you don't want to be my best friend?" said a female voice behind me.  
  
I turned around to see probably the hottest chick within the whole city. She had blonde hair that I guessed was about down to her neck, but she kept it tied up in one of those chick hairstyles. I'm not all into fashion, so I don't know what the hell it's called. She also had beautiful green eyes. Her eyes could probably still be the most noticeable object even if New Las Vegas was in the background. Her body was so smokin' hot, she had awesome curves, and her boobs were very nice looking. Well, what guy wouldn't notice them? She was wearing a white jumpsuit that had 2 pink lines on it. One that went from the left shoulder to the right side of her hip, and the other from where the first pink line ended to the other side of her hip. She had white gloves on, one holding a white helmet. She was like an angel.  
  
"No, not at all" I said, with obvious embarrassment in my voice. To make it even worse, I tried to repair what damage I did to the first impression by saying.  
  
"Uh, I'm saying I want to be your friend"  
  
Stupid Myk, Stupid Myk! I thought to myself. I looked down trying not to make eye contact and scratched my head to try and disguise it, but when I looked down, her boobs were then looking at me. I instantly looked to my right, hoping that she didn't see me look at her boobs.  
  
"Hehe, alright, well, I'll bee your friend" she said with a beautiful voice, with a hint of flirting in it. Thankfully, she was looking down at her feet, shifted her weight to one of her feet, and prop her helmet so that she was carrying it over her shoulder, so she didn't see me catch that quick glance, and that pose made her look sexier.  
  
When she looked up, she kind of tried to get a quick glance at me too, but then she realized I was watching her do that, and she immediately looked down again and put her hair behind her ear, trying to disguise it. Damn do I know how people act!  
  
After a short pause, I guess she realized we don't even know eachother's names. She looked up again and stuck her hand out for a handshake.  
  
"By the way, my name is Soni Windell"  
  
"Oh yeah, my name is Myk. Myk Linear" I replied.  
  
'Oh yeah'? What the hell is wrong with you Myk? I thought to myself. So I know how other people can't control how they act, but I can't control my own actions myself. Oh well, so sue me.  
  
After my dumb, thick-headed, introduction, I showed Soni around. I explained to her how the Global Cortex is set up. Dormitories are in the northern wedge, rec. room in the north-east wedge, offices in the south- east wedge, registration and exhibits in the south wedge, and the garage and shop are in the final two west wings.  
  
After showing Soni around, we went to the rec. room and ate at the food services Global Cortex provides. We sat down at the deli and talked.about nothing really, well, at least I got to know her better.  
  
I found out that she was a brand new raven and hasn't even taken the starting exam. She said that all of the raven evaluators had been taken for the whole week. Many ravens have been coming up  
  
"I see," I said, trying to sound interested.  
  
"Well, I was wondering if you could be my evaluator," she asked.  
  
"Oh, well, I think," I nearly fell of my seat when she said 'be my evaluator.'  
  
"Oh come on, please? I can't wait a week to become a raven!" Her beautiful voice was too powerful and completely enslaved me.  
  
"Ok, I'll be your evaluator."  
  
Hell, I'd evaluate her body any day. 


	5. Chapter Three: The Raven Test

"Hey Myk, I heard you got a rookie assigned to you," teased Todd.  
  
"Heh, you don't know what the hell you're talking about," I replied calmly, "Global Cortex has their usual evaluators booked, so I have to take this rookie to battle too," I said, trying to sound like I was bummed out.  
  
"Poor bastard," Todd teased.  
  
I went to the garage and walked down to section C, where my AC was held. My AC is beautiful. It is equipped with head SKYEYE and has a lightweight OB core. It's arms were the lightest middleweight arms on the market, and it's legs had the best carrying load of all the middleweights. The main body components were pained a rust red with a light brown color painted in some small areas, so the colors would contrast. Everywhere else was the basic color of all the parts: dark gray. In it's right hand was the MG/1000, and in the left was a moderately sized laser blade. It had a double back weapon, which was a quad missile launcher, and the extensions were relation missiles that shoot out 4 at a time.  
  
I took the anti-gravity platforms to reach the cockpit of my AC. I climbed in, strapped in, and turned on the computer.  
  
"Hi" started the female computer voice, "Verifying pilot. Pilot is Myk Linear. Welcome, Myk. Checking for new weapons. No new weapons. All systems functioning within normal parameters. Go into combat mode?"  
  
"Negative, we're on our way to evaluate a raven" I replied.  
  
I walked to the elevator that led to the rooftop that held the drop ships. When the elevator shaft's ceiling opened and the elevator reached the top, I noticed an AC drop ship and an AC. The AC was white and outlined in pastel pink. It was a very basic AC. Radar, small missile launcher, rifle, and a laser blade. I guessed it was Soni's AC.  
  
"There you are! What took you so long?" asked Soni over the communicator.  
  
"Sorry, damn elevators go to slow." We put our ACs in the drop ship and took off.  
  
"This is a test to become a raven," I had to start off this way, it was protocol, "There are several battle MT's in this sector of city. Destroy them all and you become a raven."  
  
"Jeeze, don't be so serious," said Soni.  
  
"Sorry, but its protocol"  
  
The drop ship doors opened and Soni and I jumped out. We landed and there were about 7 battle MTs in the area. Soni immediately boosted right and hid behind a building. I boosted left and did the same. Since I was only an evaluator, I am not allowed to shoot at the MTs. I boosted up and on top of a building. I looked down to see how Soni was doing. She boosted right out of the alleyway, onto a road where 2 MTs were still looking at the other road. Soni came next to the first one and sliced it with her laser blade. The MT fell down, sparking and with smoke coming out. The other MT noticed this and turned to fire it's rocket. Soni boosted up and dodged the rocket. The MT then switched to machine guns and started spraying bullets at her. Her AC took minor hits, but not too much damage. Still in the air, she boost-strafed right and fired several rifle rounds into the MT. The MT exploded after about 7 shots.  
  
The other 5 MTs were now closing in on Soni's position. She turned to her left and went down a road where 3 MTs were coming straight at her. Soni switched to missiles and fired one at the first MT. It was a direct hit, but it was still standing. Soni fired another missile and the MT exploded. The other 2 MT's were now in firing range and fired their rockets at Soni. Soni boosted right and easily dodged the rockets. The MTs now switched to machineguns and began firing. Soni started firing her rifle, but the dual force of 2 machine guns began to stall her radiator. She boosted backwards and hid behind a wall to let the radiator cool the AC. After a few seconds, she boosted straight up and right over the MTs shooting missiles and rifle rounds. The two MTs exploded and Soni landed right on top of the rubble that was left of them.  
  
The next MT was trying to ambush Soni by hiding in an alley. Soni boosted down the road when the MT popped out and fired a rocket right into her left arm, blowing it completely off. Soni then boosted left and out-strafed the MT until she was behind it. She pointed the rifle right behind where the cockpit was and fired. I saw the bullet go right through the MT, through the pilot, and right out the other end. The MT just sat there and didn't move. Duh, because the pilot died!  
  
The last two MTs were right around the block of Soni. When she turned around the corner, the MTs fired their machine guns, so Soni boosted back and took cover behind the building. She paused for a moment and then she boosted straight up, over the buildings and between the two MTs. Right there would have been the perfect time to use the laser blade, except her left arm wasn't even there anymore. Soni waited a moment for the MTs to turn to her, get a lock, and right before they fired, she jumped and the MT's blew each other away with their own rockets. Damn, this chick can fight!  
  
"Congrats. From this moment on, you are a raven," I said over the communicator.  
  
"Thanks, I've always wanted that to hear that," Soni replied. 


	6. Chapter Four: The Love Story

"Wake up, sir," I heard a female voice, "You are late for your appointment with Soni Windell."  
  
"Shit!" I said while jumping out of bed.  
  
I quickly changed into a forest-green shirt and some black pants. I put in some hair gel and spiked my hair, as usual. I rushed out of my apartment with my shoes barely on. I was supposed to meet Soni at the food court section of the rec. room for breakfast. I looked at my wrist too see what time it was. Damn, I forgot my watch.  
  
I looked down the hall to see if there was an open door. I spotted one 3 doors down and burst into it.  
  
"Hey, what time is it?" I asked the person inside.  
  
"AIEE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" shrieked the woman inside.  
  
"Oh damn, sorry, I just need to know the time," I apologized.  
  
"GET THE HELL OUT!" she yelled, throwing shoes at me.  
  
I quickly ran out, and remembered that my watch was in my pocket. 10:36. Damn, I'm screwed.  
  
I got to the food court at 10:42 and looked around. I couldn't see Soni anywhere. I asked one of the food servers if he'd seen Soni. He said that he saw her go to the mission wing to look for incoming assignments. Before he even finished his sentence, I was out the door.  
  
I got to the mission wing, and looked around again. She wasn't there either. I figured she might have gone to the garage afterward if she completed a mission. I ran to the garage, hoping I'd find her.  
  
Hopeless. She wasn't in the garage either. I asked one of the engineers if she'd seen Soni. She said she went to the shop to pick up a new rifle. Mindlessly, I ran to the shop.  
  
She wasn't to be found again! Obviously my mind didn't give a damn how foolish this chase was. I asked the store clerk if he'd seen Soni, and he said that she hasn't been in here yet. That was weird, the engineer said that Soni told her that she was going to the shop. Exhausted and sad, I went to the food court to get some grub.  
  
I sat down at one of the two-people tables by myself. I wasn't even hungry. I totally blew off a girl I really liked. I'm such an ass.  
  
"I'm such an ass," I said to myself.  
  
"Hehe, I don't think so," a voice said behind me. Hot damn, it was Soni, "Hehe, I was watching you run nearly a whole lap around Global Cortex, and the sweet part is, you did it for me!"  
  
I'll be damned, she was flirting with me.  
  
"Well what about breakfast? I was late by nearly an hour and a half!" I said.  
  
"Well yeah, so I punished you by making you scramble all over the place!" she replied.  
  
Damn, I'm falling for this girl.  
  
~  
  
Soni and I sat down and ate an early lunch. I was so damn late, and I'm probably going to beat my self up about it for the next month. While eating lunch, Soni told me that Nerves Concord, the Mars "raven's nest", has started a branch on Earth. She also told me that the Martian employees and ravens were like barbarians and actually came to Earth to spread their democratic ideas and destroy the aristocratic Earth Government.  
  
"But isn't democracy a better form of government than the piece-of- shit Earth Government?" I asked.  
  
"Oh my God! Are you siding with the Martians already?" she said. Stupid Myk, now you two have differences!  
  
"No, I think the Martians were wrong in fighting against the Earth Government," I said, trying to take back what I said.  
  
"Then what did you say?" she asked. I'm screwed.  
  
"I said.'But democracy isn't a better government than the Earth Government, because it's a piece of shit," please God, make her believe it.  
  
"Ok, I thought you were saying our government is bad." Score.  
  
We finished our lunch and headed to the mission wing to look for missions. As soon as we were no more than two steps out the door, there was a loud explosion and machine gun fire. 


	7. Chapter Five: The Attack on Global Corte...

The floor shook and the lights flickered.  
  
"What's going on?" shrieked Soni as she held on to me tightly for balance. I didn't know if this is heaven or hell.  
  
"All ravens, battle MT pilots, and airborne pilots report to the garage and hangar. Prepare for battle. Global Cortex is under attack," said the intercom.  
  
Soni, me, and about 30 other AC pilots all rushed to the hangar and got into our ACs. All but 3 ACs were able to launch because of repairs. Poor bastards, now they had to drive the MTs. About 50 battle MTs were launched from the launch field. These MTs were reversed jointed and had a machine gun and rocket launcher. They weren't strong and were very slow. About 20 jet planes began launching from the runways and 20 helicopters from the helipads. It was a very sizeable force, but why would so much firepower be needed?  
  
The garage's gigantic doors began to open, and the sunlight shined on the 28 ACs. It was a spectacular sight. GC (Global Cortex) MTs were firing their rockets and machine guns into about 30 MTs. These MTs were a dark gray to light black and had hover legs as their method of transportation. They were very small, but had an enormous plasma cannon that fired pink explosive energy bolts. The GC MTs weren't going to make it.  
  
On top of that, an equal amount of jets and helicopters were against the GC jets and helicopters. They were occupied with eachother, so they were unable to give the GC MTs any air cover.  
  
And with the addition to those, there were about 30 ravens flying around shooting. I suppose those were our targets.  
  
We all boosted out of the garage, engaging in combat instantly.  
  
"Soni, stay close to me, we'll cover eachother," I said to Soni over the intercom. Soni's white and pink AC moved right next to mine.  
  
I switched to quad missiles and targeted the closest enemy AC. I fired and two missiles from each weapon pod fired from my back weapons. The enemy AC must have been too occupied with the GC MTs, until he heard the missile warning in his AC. He turned to face 4 missiles. All for got a direct hit and the AC fell to the ground. I came up to the charred and sparking, but still moving AC and plunged my laser blade right into the core, shutting it down.  
  
As soon as I took my laser blade out of the AC, I was hit by something powerful and was struck to the ground. Some of the enemy MTs started firing at me. My right arm was damaged, so I couldn't bring my machine gun up to shoot at them. Thinking I was going to get my ass kicked by flies with pink guns, Soni swooped in front of them and laser bladed one of them. She turned to gun the other one down with her rifle.  
  
"Thanks," I said over the intercom.  
  
"No problem," She replied.  
  
I moved my machine gun to my left arm. It would be better to attack using one arm, than trying to use a broken one.  
  
Doing a unit check, 4 GC ACs were down, over half the GC MTs were destroyed, and one third of the airborne squadrons were shot down. The enemy has sustained 6 AC losses, 11 MT losses, and one third of their airborne.  
  
I boosted with Soni to where more ACs were fighting. I fired my quad missiles and Soni fired her small missile launcher. My missiles went after an enemy AC, but 2 of them were dodged. Soni's small missile hit an AC right when it turned its back to it, getting a direct hit on the boosters. The AC suddenly started flying around, until it went straight for the ground and exploded. The AC I hit turned around to face us. This guy looked intimidating. He was a tank tread with grenades and a linear cannon. I noticed the linear cannon's targeting system begin to flash and move, then the cannon itself began to shine blue. Then a big bolt came straight at where Soni and I was. I boosted up, trying to dodge the blast. I heard the explosion behind me, so the maneuver was a success.  
  
I raised my machine gun and started firing at the tank AC, and got quite a few direct hits. The tank raised its twin grenades and fired them. I dodged by boosting right, then I went straight at the tank to try and get him with my laser blade. I sliced off the tips of the tank's grenade launchers, melting the barrel so it wouldn't fire. I boosted up to avoid the blast radius if the tank exploded. Which it did. It tried to fire and I saw it go up in a ball of flames. I landed to see what was left, but most of the tank was still remaining. The arms were completely gone, only charred and smoking stumps were left. The tank began to charge its linear cannon again and fired. I dodged and returned fire with a volley of missiles. Since the tank was slow, it took a direct hit on all 4. I could see sparks and smoke begin to come out of the tank. I fired the rest of my machine gun until the tank stopped moving.  
  
I asked the computer for a unit check. 7 GC ACs down, no remaining GC MTs, and two thirds of the airborne have been shot down. The enemy suffered 16 AC casualties, 19 MT casualties, and similar casualties to their airborne as ours.  
  
Since all the MTs were going to start attacking the ACs, I decided to attack them to cover the other ACs.  
  
"Soni, cover me while I go after the MTs," I said to the intercom.  
  
Silence.  
  
"Soni, are you there?" I said, "Computer, what's happened to Soni's AC?"  
  
"Soni's AC has been shot down."  
  
"What? By who?"  
  
"The tank AC you defeated a few moments ago."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Soni's AC has energy cannon deposits on the outer hull."  
  
The damn linear cannon must have gotten her! The shot I dodged was probably the direct hit on her. Anger started growing in me, and my hands started to tense up. My arms began to feel tense as well and my heart rate began to beat higher.  
  
I switched to machine guns and began firing into the MT squad. I strafe boosted left, just firing into the crowd. Their pink blasts were going right past me. My machine gun ran out of ammunition, so I threw it at the MTs. I switched to laser blade and started hacking away at them mercilessly. My AC began to rumble as it was getting hit by the plasma cannons. Heat warnings, damage warnings, malfunctioning and even missing part warnings began to beep and flash. As long as I had an energy blade and some energy, I'm able to seek my revenge.  
  
After the onslaught, I checked the remaining enemies. 16 GC ACs remaining and the airborne squadron has 2 extremely damaged jets remaining. The enemy has 9 remaining ACs and no MTs or airborne units. The enemy is retreating.  
  
I also did a damage check on my AC. Back weapons severely damaged, right arm missing, severe damage to right leg, moderate damage to left leg, severe damage to left arm, laser blade malfunctioning, head malfunctioning, severe core damage, severe damage to radiator, overboost malfunctioning, severe damage to boosters, missing right arm extension (duh, because there is no more right arm), left arm extension malfunctioning. Right arm weapon missing (well, its missing because I threw it at the damn MTs). I asked the computer the status of the machine gun. It replied no damage, but out of ammunition. Well there's the part that doesn't need to get repaired.  
  
My AC couldn't even get back to the hangar. Two construction MTs had to pick it up and carry it back. Once back at the main building, I checked the mission room to check raven casualties. All 3 ravens in MTs were killed, and of the 12 ACs shot down, 2 died, 6 in critical condition, 2 are hospitalized, and 2 made it out safely.  
  
Oddly, I was counted as an AC shot down. 


	8. Chapter Six: Revenge

I looked to see which ravens died. The names were John Lindley, Patricia Peterson, Donovan Quest, Nathan Gibbs and Phyllis Duncore. Patricia Peterson and Phyllis Duncore's ACs were completely obliterated by the tank AC's linear cannon, due to the fact that both had lightweight ACs.  
  
Of the critical condition, Soni's name was the only one I could pay attention to. I ran down to the hospital area of the building.  
  
"Which room is Soni Windell in?" I asked the nurse.  
  
"Room 8," she said.  
  
I ran as fast as I could to room 8 and saw Soni. There was a big bandage, half soaked in blood, wrapped around her right arm. There was also a bloody bandage over her head too. I asked the computer what happened.  
  
"Soni Windell suffered from a piece of shrapnel of her own AC embedded in her right arm. Another piece hit her head, causing severe trauma. Right now is in critical condition and in a coma," responded the computer.  
  
I had to figure out who did this.  
  
~  
  
Checking footage of the battle from GC's security cameras, I zoomed in on the MTs and ACs. All of them had an emblem. The letters NC on a light blue web of hexagons. This seemed familiar, but I couldn't figure it out at the time. Global Cortex's emblem is the letters GC with an orange circle as the background.  
  
Back in my room, I turned on my computer and looked at my bank account. AC repair was the most I ever had to pay. I needed a replaced right arm, right leg, extensions, head, back weapons, laser blade, and radiator; I required repairs for my left arm, left leg, and core; some internal repair on my left arm and core; and an ammunition refill for machine gun. Well there's a relief, not everything needs to be replaced or repaired. Cost: 100,000 Cr.  
  
I was in debt of about 25,000 Cr. I'm probably never going to get out of that. I needed to find a way to get more money. I went down to the mission room to find out what missions there was.  
  
"Hey man, I'm sorry about what happened to Soni," Todd said behind me. He was on a different mission at the time.  
  
"Don't remind me, it was my fault she ended up that way, it was either me or her, and I chose her," I said.  
  
"Dude, shut the fuck up! You had no idea she was right behind you! It was no one's damn fault!" Todd yelled. He had a good point.  
  
"Whatever man, just leave me alone," I replied calmly. Todd left the room giving me a disgusted look.  
  
I checked the missions. 'Retaliation' was the mission's heading. It was from Global Cortex and paid off 40,000 Cr. In advance and 60,000 Cr. Upon completion. I clicked on it, to see what it was about. The briefing said:  
  
The recent attack on the Global Cortex HQ was catastrophic and devastating to the Cortex's employees, supplies, and morale. This cannot be shrugged off. We must retaliate. Sources show that the attackers were from the Nerves Concord Earth Branch. They brought about 24 ravens from Mars and recruited 31 more for their democratic cause. All but 2 of those recently recruited ravens were taken prisoner or killed during the recent fight  
  
This mission's objectives are to launch a covert assault on the Concord's HQ stationed in nearby Skyline City. 4 other ravens will be accompanying you on this mission. The base is to be infiltrated and a bomb planted in the reactors of the building. If you are discovered, 24 Martian ravens plus countless MTs will be on your ass. Failure is not an option  
  
This was the mission for me. I accepted it. My allies were Lynn Dawnings, an excellent sniper and master of covert; Scott Raymir, an accomplished arena contender, he excels in heavy weapons; Daniel Smith, a new raven, but very skilled in machine guns; and Sandy Chu, an expert in shot guns and laser blades.  
  
With the 15,000 Cr. now in my bank, I was ready to start my next mission. I went to the garage and prepared to launch. 


	9. Chapter Seven: Covert Ops

I looked at my AC. Some of the repairs were still incomplete. Any new parts were reattached, but some repairs still being done by the engineers. A complication with the hydraulics of the left leg and internal electronics malfunctions in the core were the problems.  
  
"Will it run?" I asked the engineer.  
  
"Yeah, but there will be some problems," she replied, "The hydraulic pump in the upper left leg is going into spasms, so it may twitch randomly, and it won't be able to jump correctly. The core's vmgs targeting system isn't working at all, so there better not be any missiles."  
  
"I don't care, as long as I can move and shoot, I'm good," I replied. Do all engineers go into descriptions like that?  
  
I got into my AC and strapped myself in. I turned on the main system.  
  
""Hi" started the female computer voice, "Verifying pilot. Pilot is Myk Linear. Welcome, Myk. Checking for new weapons. No new weapons. All systems functioning within normal parameters. Go into combat mode?"  
  
"Negative, we're going to the hangar to launch a sortie," I told the computer.  
  
The AC walked down the hallway to get to the elevator to the rooftop. While turning a corner I nearly ran into another AC. This one was a lightweight AC with a sniper rifle and what looked like a customized single missile launcher. The AC was painted white and had black in some parts.  
  
"Whoa, sorry about that," I said into the intercom.  
  
"No problem, do you know which way to the rooftop elevator? I'm a transfer raven from the Neo Zion Global Cortex and I don't know my way around here," said the female voice behind the intercom. Whoa, another chick to show around. Well, I hope she's hot.  
  
"Yeah, I'm going to it now. Are you by any chance Lynn Dawnings?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah I am. Are you one of my squad members?" Lynn asked.  
  
"Yeah, my name is Myk Linear," I said as I started walking to the elevator.  
  
Lynn followed me as we went to the elevator. Once up there, there was another AC. A heavyweight humanoid with a shotgun, howitzer, and vertical missile launcher. I instantly recognized the AC. The rank A-9 raven, Scott Raymir.  
  
"Hey Scott," Lynn said. She must have known him from before, "I didn't know you were on this mission too!"  
  
"Yeah well, sorry about that," Scott replied.  
  
"Where are the other two ravens?" I asked.  
  
"We're meeting them later," said the drop ship pilot.  
  
We got into 2 different drop ships. In the first was Lynn and I. Scott was in the second because his AC was heavy.  
  
"Lynn, if he hurts you, I'll kill him," Scott said to Lynn. I guess Scott had feelings for her.  
  
Once in the drop ship, we took off.  
  
~  
  
We met with the third drop ship in the air. Their passengers were Daniel Smith and Sandy Chu. Daniel was a fairly new raven, but constantly does missions. His AC is a four legger with dual machine gun arms and customized dual chain guns. Sandy had a lightweight AC with dual laser blade arms and a customized double slug guns.  
  
"We're five minutes from the drop zone," said the DP pilot.  
  
I could see Skyline City already. It was much bigger than Neo Isaac and was more advanced. There were monorails that would take people to each of the gigantic skyscrapers so they would never have to walk on the street. In between the skyscrapers, flashy billboard signs and lights sparkled. Skyline City looked similar to Old New York City. A big city that was destroyed during the Great Destruction.  
  
"Starting landing procedures" said the DP pilot, "meet here at the LZ at 200 hours."  
  
We unloaded. Daniel's AC was a combination of dark blue and light blue. Sandy's AC was a light yellow with dark blue in some areas.  
  
We scanned the city for the location of the Nerves Concord Earth HQ. Scott explained the strategy while our sensors scanned the city.  
  
"Sandy, you go in first. Silence any guard MTs you encounter. Lynn will cover the outside. Daniel, you follow Sandy and cover her if things get heated. I'll stay near the entrance."  
  
"Dude, what about me?" I asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, you can join Sandy and Daniel," replied Scott. I have a feeling he hates me.  
  
The sensors beeped indicating they located the NC. We all boosted to the location. Once there, Lynn went on top of a nearby building for a sniping post. The rest of us went inside the building. Once inside, Scott stayed near the entrance as planned. Daniel, Sandy, and I went further into the building.  
  
Daniel and I stayed behind as Sandy activated her radar disruptors and went into the first room. We heard a laser sword activate and then saw a green blip on our radar, indicating that Sandy cleared the room. We went in further. As we rounded the corner, a machine gun emplacement spotted Sandy and opened fire. Daniel immediately fired at it, destroying the machine gun with a few bullets.  
  
As we went into the next room, we repeated the same procedure as the last room. The green blip on the radar came up, indicating that the room was clear. We went into the room, and four gun emplacements came from each of the ceiling corners. They began to fire their machine guns at us. Sandy took in most of the hits while Daniel and I shot at the gun emplacements. Once they were all destroyed, we did a scan of Sandy. We couldn't ask her ourselves because we needed to keep the communicators quiet. Sandy's radar disruptors were damaged and she was unable to cloak. Now we had no choice but to go in, guns blazing.  
  
The next room there were about 3 guard MTs. Daniel went in first and fired all four of his machine guns, putting holes through all the MTs before they could even understand what was happening. We went into the next hallway when a message from Lynn came. She wasn't supposed to break radio silence.  
  
"You guys, an AC just went into the building! I couldn't shoot it because I couldn't get any locks! Scott went up against it and his AC is shot down! You guys should get out of there as soon as possible!"  
  
This is bad, but we couldn't back down now, we were more than halfway there. We continued down the hallway. As we rounded the corner to the next room, a silver flash went in front of Daniel and I and grabbed Sandy. Sandy's AC was then brought into the room. We heard an explosion from inside the room. Sandy was dead.  
  
"What the hell was that?" I said to myself.  
  
Daniel went ahead and started firing his machineguns, but as I watched, machine gun fire came back and put a hell of a lot of holes into Daniel's AC. Daniel's AC caught on fire and shut down.  
  
It was just me left, and I didn't even know what I was up against! I went into a room and saw the AC.  
  
The silver AC looked like a normal lightweight AC, but had no weapons. The only noticeable difference was its arms. Both arms had what looked like a laser blade weapon underneath each arm. The hands were kind of small, but the forearm itself was slightly larger than normal.  
  
But who really gives a damn about statistics? I raised my machine gun to fire at it, but there wasn't any lock! The thing must have an FCS disruptor. But, it doesn't matter. I fired my machine gun and got a few hits on it. The AC began to glow unusually red, like really hot metal. Then the right arm began to move oddly. The hand retracted and was placed snugly next to the forearm. Then a long barrel came out of the arm. It was a grenade launcher! I immediately boosted up while firing at the AC. The AC fired its grenade launcher, narrowly missing my right leg.  
  
I flew over and behind the enemy AC so I could maybe get it with my laser blade. It was successful and I inflicted some major damage to the back of the AC. The pilot must have realized that just standing and shooting isn't going to work for me, so he immediately boosted forward. His left arm now began to act weird, and the hand retracted like the other arm. A smaller barrel emerged. The AC began firing this new weapon at me. The weapon was a machine gun. I dodged most of the spray, but a few still nicked my right arm.  
  
I continued to fire my machine gun as I moved in to try to get it with my laser blade again. As I was moving closer, both of the AC's arms retracted to hands again, but this time both of his laser blades activated. These blades were longer than most of the ones I've seen, and were purplish-red in color. The AC boosted towards me and was about to do a cross slash, but I'm better than him, I stuck my laser blade straight out and got him right in the core. I could even see my laser blade tip on the other side!  
  
I pulled it out after leaving it in the AC for a few moments. Surprisingly, the AC was still mobile, but was severely damaged. The AC limped its way back to the door and fleed. 


	10. Chapter Eight: Skyline City

With the silver AC out of my way, I headed on deeper into the base. In the next room were the main generators. I planted the bombs on the closest one and set it for 5 minutes. Mission complete. Now I just had to get out of the base, which was no biggie either.  
  
I walked out of the base. Once outside, I saw the remains of Scott's AC. Both arms were blown off, and I could see parts of them lying everywhere. There were piles of rubble in other places, I guess MTs Lynn and Scott shot down. After taking a big look at the mess, Lynn's AC came boosting towards me.  
  
"What the hell happened in there?" Lynn asked.  
  
"Well, Sandy and Daniel died, and I made that silver AC run away," I replied.  
  
"Yeah, well, Scott's dead."  
  
"Yeah, I saw his remains already."  
  
Lynn and I made a long distance transmission to Global Cortex saying that the mission is complete. After a few minutes, they said that they currently have no transports that are ready to pick them up, and the next one won't be until tomorrow morning. They suggested that we hide our ACs and spent the night in Skyline City. Well, that's good, since Lynn was hot and all.  
  
~  
  
Lynn and I moved our ACs to a warehouse in the outskirts of the city. It was about 9:30 when we parked our ACs and locked them. So, now what?  
  
"Hey Lynn, you want to go down to Skyline City? We could go on like a date or something," I asked, trying to be 'cool'.  
  
"Sure! Do you know anything that is happening tonight?" she asked.  
  
"Umm," I looked at a poster pasted to the warehouse wall, "We could go to an armored core parts expo."  
  
"Really? There's one here?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, well, it says here on this poster."  
  
We headed to the arena where this event was being held. The whole event was being sponsored by Crest, one of the major AC parts supplier corporations. Lynn and I walked in. There were exhibits of old Crest parts, current parts, the prototypes, and some parts of Chrome, the old name of Crest. Lynn and I walked over to the prototypes, seeing what we can hope for in the stores.  
  
"Wow! Look at this one!" Lynn exclaimed.  
  
It was a prototype for the new right hand chain gun. This thing was huge! It was designed for only the strongest AC's, and heavyweights require that no other parts other than the required are equipped. The chain gun needed both the arms to support it, and the thing itself is the heaviest part on the market, other than some of the tank legs. But with all these drawbacks, what's the good news? The targeting system is top of the line, and is even claimed to be the best for a long time. The ammunition of the chain gun is around 5000, which ties with the record of most ammo. But the most outstanding spec was the damage each bullet does. Normal machine guns do around 100-200. This chain gun had a damage rating of over 600. That's about as powerful as some of the smaller missiles! This chain gun is something to behold.  
  
Once done with that, we continued to the next exhibit. It was a new dual back weapon. It had two modes of fire. The first mode were mortar shells that can fire over walls. The second mode were direct grenades. Both modes had extremely powerful ammunition that match the best grenade launcher.  
  
We moved on to see a left arm weapon. It was a very unique laser blade, because it wasn't even a laser blade! It was a laser whip! When activated, the pilot can grab objects at a distance, use it as an extended arm, and inflict damage! But it was still a prototype and Crest had to find a way to reduce the energy usage. But other than that, the product was almost prepared for public use.  
  
When we were done, we went to the old Chrome parts. There were some interesting models, and they even had an exhibit on the first Moonlight laser blade. The original Moonlight was the most powerful one ever created, and Moonlight blades now are getting less and less. I'd do anything for that original Moonlight.  
  
Once we were done, we headed back to the warehouses and looked for a hotel. Lynn and I rented a room at one of the hotels near the warehouse or ACs were at. Once inside, I decided to take a shower. I instantly went to the bathroom, got undressed, and went into the shower. It was about a 2 minutes when the door opened.  
  
"Hey! I'm taking a shower!" I said.  
  
"Well, I was wondering if I can join you," Lynn asked. Oh, shit!  
  
She got undressed right in front of me. Dude, she is so damn sexy. After she was totally nude, she opened the shower door and got in with me.  
  
(I'm going to let you, the reader, use your imagination for what happens next () 


	11. Chapter Nine: Return to Global Cortex

"Ring, ring."  
  
"Gnzz...huh? Wha?"  
  
"Ring, ring, transmission received," announced the computer.  
  
"Ohh, what time is it?" I asked.  
  
"9:16 sir."  
  
"Ok, open transmission."  
  
"Opening.Where the hell are you guys? The drop ship has been waiting forever for you two!"  
  
"OH CRAP!" I jumped out of bed and started getting dressed.  
  
"What is it?" asked Lynn.  
  
"We're late for the pick-up!" I said as I pulled up my pants.  
  
"Oh damn, you're right!" she got up out of bed too and got dressed as well.  
  
Once we were both fully dressed, we zoomed out the door and down the hallway and stairs. I threw some random amount of credits at the desk manager and said what room we were in. We ran down to the warehouses that were only down the block from the hotel. We both got in our ACs and headed towards the pick-up point.  
  
~  
  
"Welcome back Myk," said the desk manager.  
  
I barely even noticed the desk manager saying that, all I cared about at the time was how Soni was doing. I ran to the medical wing of Global Cortex with Lynn by my side. Scared what I might find, I slowly walked into Soni's room.  
  
"WHERE THE FUCK IS SONI?" I yelled subconsciously. The bed for Soni was empty! All that was running through my mind was "where is she?"  
  
I quickly ran out to the hallway and grabbed the nearest nurse.  
  
"Where did the patient for this room go?" I asked with anger in my voice.  
  
"Umm, I'm sorry, patient Soni Windell was sent to a special research facility. I believe Crest employees were seen around the place."  
  
I suddenly had anger towards Crest.  
  
"Lynn, wait here, I might be a while," I told Lynn.  
  
"Who is this Soni person anyway?" she asked.  
  
"Don't worry, it's going to be alright," I said as I ran towards the garage.  
  
On my way to the garage, I stopped at my dorm. I opened my closet, and started putting in a code for the lock for my personal weapons closet. I opened it, and the most beautiful machine gun the public can legally own was in front of me. This machine gun was the most state-of-the-art gun. It could even shoot down some small MTs. It kinda looked like a much smaller version of a rifle for an AC, and its ammunition is armor-piercing and highly explosive. It could shoot through light armor, and a few shots can shoot through medium armor. If it hit heavy armor, the shell would explode, still causing significant damage. I grabbed this gun and ran back downstairs to the garage.  
  
The garage already had my AC and the minor repairs were done. I quickly got in and turned on the AC. From the information database that was connected to my AC's computer, I located the Crest research facility. I walked out of the garage and boosted toward Crest.  
  
~  
  
After about an hour, I arrived at the location. I went up to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked, as usual. My head unit didn't have enough hacking ability to open it, so I waited outside for someone to come out.  
  
After about 30 minutes, some gunshots came from inside the building. When I looked, the front door opened and a heavy weight humanoid with a MG/1000 in it's left hand and a really big gun in the right. It was yellowish with green dots. It was only using the MG/1000, and was only carrying the other weapon. I put my AC on low power to avoid being seen on the radar. I watched as a few MTs followed the AC out the door, but the AC just mowed them down with his MG/1000.  
  
After a while, it looked like he was out of ammo. He threw the MG/1000 at the MTs, but then aimed the big gun. I instantly knew what it was! It was the chain gun from the parts expo! The barrel began to rotate and a stream of bullets came from the gun, nearly making another door! When the smoke cleared, only rubble remained of the MTs. This was a chance to steal that chain gun.  
  
I switched my AC back to normal mode and loaded my quad missile launcher. After one lock on, my extensions locked on and I fired the missiles. 8 missiles came at the enemy AC. I thought that this might finish him off alone, since he didn't have any extensions, or even any other weapons. But I was dead wrong!  
  
The enemy AC fired its chain gun, and instantly destroyed all the missiles. Well, so much for that. I loaded my MG/1000 and charged at the AC. I fired my MG/1000 in a constant spray, since the heavyweight was so slow. I was getting lots of easy hits and I thought I was going to win, until I received a few shots of the chain gun.  
  
I was hit by a few chain gun rounds and my AC was struck to the ground. My AC was overheating already! I asked for a damage report, and the core had severe hull fractures. That chain gun is a beast! I boosted left while the enemy AC continued firing his chain gun. My AC was faster than his could turn, so I easily flanked him and came at his side with my laser blade. I got a good hit, but the armor of his AC was really thick. I boosted backwards and started firing my MG/1000 again.  
  
By now he turned around to face me and started firing his chain gun. He got few hits on me again, but only about 3 or 4. I boosted up so I was right above him. I came down and landed with each of my legs on his shoulders. His AC could support my weight. I brought my left arm straight down, grabbed on to the AC's head, and yanked as hard as I could.  
  
You'd think 'Oh, Myk's a warrior! That AC is finished!', but that's not the case. Heads are usually bolted on super tight on heavyweights, so the head of the enemy AC didn't budge at all. So instead, I brought my laser blade straight down. I plunged the blade as deep in as I could, and I guess it must have punctured the generator, so the AC shut down.  
  
I boosted backwards to look at the satisfying destruction I caused.and I was sure as hell satisfied. I went up to the rubble to get the chain gun. Damn! The thing was heavy! I couldn't even move it. I tried yanking it, and it probably only moved a foot. I decided that I could pick it up later. I went toward the facility's entrance and moved the rubble that used to be MTs so I could get inside.  
  
I'm going to find Soni. 


	12. Chapter Ten: The Crest Research Facility

I walked my AC through the front door of Crest's research facility. I don't know why they needed Soni, a new raven that was shot down. To anyone, that's the brutality of life, but to me, it was just Soni. Crest didn't have any need for her. Whatever the cause, Crest is going to pay back.  
  
When I got to the second security lock, it was already shot out by the AC I defeated earlier. I opened the big metal doors with my ACs hands and it opened to a 4-way intersection.  
  
"Left, HP research. Forward, Garage/Testing Arena. Right, Weapons research/SS project," I read aloud while reading the directory.  
  
I didn't know which way to go, and I didn't know what "HP" and "SS" stood for, I did "eanie meanie miney moe" to help me decide.  
  
"Eanie, meanie, miney, moe, shoot an MT in the toe." I'm really immature, "Alright, I'm going straight."  
  
I continued forward until I reached a door. I opened it, and T intersection was there. The sign read:  
  
"Assembly Garage left. Testing Arena right." I decided to go to the Testing Arena first, I don't really know why, I just felt like I had to.  
  
I turned right and continued down that hallway to a big door, probably the arena entrance. But before I could open it myself, the door opened. I readied my MG/1000.  
  
Nothing.  
  
I walked in slowly, being alert of any ambushes. Still no movement. I headed towards the center of the arena dome when a light on the other side started flashing, signaling the door was opening.  
  
The door opened and a tank AC rolled out. I've seen this AC before! The tank had dual grenade launchers, but an older model. It also had the new linear gun that was out. This was the AC that shot down Soni! Anger suddenly build up in me.  
  
"Who the hell are you!" I yelled over the intercom.  
  
"I'm Shawn Biddens. The guy who killed your girlfriend. Haha!"  
  
I had immense hatred for this pilot. I switched to my quad missile launcher and turned on my relation missile launcher. I boosted left and waited for a lock on. Once I had one, I fired the missiles, and the 8 missiles came at Shawn. Shawn, being a tank, was too slow to maneuver them normally, so he overboosted forward so he was now to the right of me. I turned right and fired my machine gun. At the same moment, Shawn fired his dual grenades. I boosted up to dodge and continued firing my machine gun. I got a few good hits, and started advancing on his position to slice him with my laser blade.  
  
Shawn fired 2 more grenades as I came closer which I easily dodged. I was right in front of him and activated my laser blade. I slashed at him a few times, and when I was low on energy, I boosted backwards. That was my mistake.  
  
With my AC trying to brake from reverse boosting, Shawn had a good shot at me with his dual grenades. He saw this as an opportunity and fired his grenades. Both got a direct hit, and my AC was struck to the ground.  
  
"Damage report!" I yelled to the computer.  
  
"Overheating and severe damage to core," responded the computer.  
  
Damnit! Those old grenade launchers had power! I stood my AC up and boosted right. I continued to fire my machine gun and got a lot of solid hits on Shawn's left side. My AC could move faster than he could turn, so I eventually ended up behind him.  
  
I wanted to give him a special "kick in the ass", so I switched back to missiles and fired them directly into the back of his AC. The 8 missiles made him severely overheat, and I noticed he didn't have booster outlet covers. All tank and hover ACs should get those, in case 8 missiles get shoved in it.  
  
With his AC severely overheating, and I even think I put some damage on his generator, his AC was almost rendered useless. But I could tell he was a warrior. Shawn's AC continued to move and he switched to his linear gun. I couldn't get shot with one of those. My AC is torn up enough by dual grenades.  
  
I fired my machine gun and aimed for the targeting system on the linear gun. I think I did shoot it out because he didn't shoot it. I boosted straight up so I was directly over him and tried to stab him from above with my laser blade. I came straight down on his head. My laser blade went through the head, through the core, generator, and radiator, and I even think it put a hole in the ground underneath! Shawn's AC finally stopped moving.  
  
I decided nothing was in here, or the garage, so I went back to the 4 way intersection. I took a left to get to the weapons research and the SS project. Whatever the hell "SS" is.  
  
The door to the weapons research was already opened, from the AC I met outside. I walked in and there were a bunch of rubble, probably former MTs. I stepped over the garbage and looked at the table that says what they're trying to develop.  
  
"CG/5000, BW-MRTR/G, L-EW, SR/120, BW-EM/16, and EX-EM/32," I read aloud while reading the list. I didn't know what any of them meant, but I kinda figured that the big chain gun was the CG/5000. I assumed the BW- MRTR/G was the mortar and grenade back weapon. I think the L-EW was the left arm energy-whip. I had no idea what BW-EM/16, SR/120, and EX-EM/32 was.  
  
I needed some new weapons. My missiles were used, and maybe some of these new parts could be good. Anyway, I could sell them later. I dropped my laser blade, machine gun, quad missile launcher, and relation missiles. The door to the CG/5000 was already open, and the chain gun was gone too. So I opened the door to the BW-MRTR/G and equipped the new weapon to my back. The weapon was actually about the same weight as my quad missiles. It was just a tad bit heavier.  
  
I opened the door to the L-EW and equipped it. The thing was heavier than most blades, but not as heavy as the Moonlight they have out now. I turned it on and a blue string came out of it. I tried using it as an extended hand to open the door to the EX-EM/32. The energy whip worked like a dream and I equipped the EX-EM/32 to my shoulders.  
  
Then I opened the door to the SR/120. It was just an ordinary sniper rifle. Damn, well, I guess the shop does need more variety in those.  
  
"New weapons detected. Right arm: sniper rifle. Left arm: Energy whip. Back weapon: Mortars. Extension: Energy missiles," announced the computer.  
  
Energy missiles? This was cool! I could really use these! But damn, I don't have any missile launchers right now. I dropped my mortars and opened the door to the BW-EM/16, which I assumed were the back weapon counterpart to the energy missile extensions. I equipped the 2 back weapons and was finished. These new weapons could be very useful.  
  
I headed to a big door that had "SS" over it. It looked like it had a lot of locks and it said "authorized personnel only". Well, whatever "SS" is, it must be special.  
  
I tried hacking into the lock, but it wouldn't work. I decided to forget about it, I don't really need to know what the "SS" is.  
  
I headed back to the 4 way intersection and went straight to the HP research part. I opened the door and it was a room for AC or MT pilots to get out. I picked up my machine gun, turned off my AC, and got out. Once I climbed down, I went up to the door that said "authorized personnel only". It was locked, but nothing my machine gun couldn't handle. I shot out the lock, which triggered an alarm. I ran inside and tried to find Soni. 


	13. Chapter Eleven: The Search for Soni

As I walked into the hallway, I heard some shouting and footsteps. I hid behind the corner and waited to see who was coming. Some guys in black military-style clothing and bullet-proof vests ran down the hallway carrying machine guns and shot guns. As soon as they were near me, I popped out and started shooting at them. My machine gun's armor piercing bullets went through their "bullet proof" vests.  
  
I shot down about 3 of these guys, and the rest of them started aiming their weapons. I jumped right and hid behind the other corner of the hallway. The door I came out of earlier was pelted with bullets. I looked to my left and there was an emergency exit staircase. I ran to the door, opened it, and leaped down the stairs.  
  
After going down 2 floors, I went through the door. Inside was another hallway similar to where I just was. I headed down the hallway and went into a door 2 doors from where I started. This door was different than the other ones, which maybe compelled me to go into it. It was wider than most and was more protected. Good thing it wasn't locked.  
  
I entered it and there was what looked like a heavyweight AC, but was about the same size as me. It was an MS! A Mobile Suit! These things are usually piloted by MT pilots. MSs can hover, run, boost, and shoot like an AC. The only downside is that they are almost always ¼ the strength of an AC. But they can fit in small places.  
  
I got in and turned it on. The weapons indicator said that this MS was equipped with a laser blade, machine gun, mini-grenade launcher back weapon, and slug gun back weapon. I released the locks that held the MS in its place.  
  
But before I could even take a step, the SWAT team burst in. Instantly, they all stopped with fear in their eyes. The 3 of them in the back ran back out the door, but the other two couldn't get out in time. I fired my machine gun and they were splattered against the walls.  
  
When I walked out the door, the remaining 3 SWAT members opened fire on me. I switched to mini-grenades and fired a single round into them. There was lots of smoke, so I couldn't see how much I messed them up.  
  
With all the SWAT members gone, I went to the elevator that was at the very end of the hallway. I opened the door and pressed the button to "HP research". That was basically the only place left to search.  
  
When the elevator door opened, 3 BWs, which mean Battle Walkers because they were like automated soldiers, greeted me with some rifle rounds. Momentarily stunned by the rounds, I switched to slug gun and took a knee. I fired a single round. The BWs were still standing, momentarily stunned by the shot-gun-like blast. I fired another round and they exploded, blackening the walls and spreading sparking parts all over the floor.  
  
I walked over the rubble and opened a door that seemed like it had high security. Inside were a bunch of cylinders that looked like cryo chambers. The inside was too foggy to see what was inside, but there were labels on the outside.  
  
"HP-1409SB, HP-1412DQ, HP-1410SW, HP-1411SR.What the hell is this?" I said to myself.  
  
I didn't know what any of these numbers meant, and there were like 20 of them in the room. I stepped back and looked at them all, trying to gain clues on what the hell these were. All of them except HP-1409SB had green lights. HP-1409SB had a red light. Well, so what? I tried pushing buttons to try and open the one with the red light, but it said I needed a pass code. So I tried opening it with my laser blade.  
  
When I broke the glass, smoke came out as the thing depressurized. I couldn't really see what I was cutting anymore, there was too much smoke. I switched the MS's view mode to infrared and it revealed what was inside.  
  
Nothing. Really, nothing was inside the thing. It was empty. Well, that was a waste. I proceeded to the next one, and tried opening it. As soon as I touched the glass, a warning came on.  
  
"Major leak in cryo chamber 2! Enhancements incomplete! Life signs failing! Restore pressure immediately!" said the computer.  
  
I still had to figure out what was inside. I pulled away the glass and inside was a human body! The body had all these wires in it, some flashy lights, and weird tubes in the back of its head. The lights began to flash faster and then turned red. Eventually the lights stopped.  
  
"Life signs of human plus number 2 has failed. Commencing disposal procedures," announced the computer.  
  
Human plus? I think I've heard about those in stories. The human plus were genetically engineered ravens who were given special skills to dominate the arena, missions, everything. I heard that the project was later abandoned due to the event that the human plus ravens became too powerful.  
  
The body was flushed like a nugget of shit down a big tube. I decided not to mess with the other capsules either. But where the hell is Soni? 


	14. Chapter Twelve: Lynn Dawnings

I walked the MS down the hallway back to where I left my AC. I climbed out and began climbing up the leg of my AC to get to the cockpit. Once inside, I started it up. I decided I could use the MS later, so I picked it up and headed back to the 4 way intersection.  
  
All my weapons were still in the weapons lab, so I walked over to there. Once there, I still wanted to keep all these cool new weapons. It was like shopping. I found a big hover flatbed and put my MS on it. Then I picked up my old weapons and the mortar/grenade launcher and put it on the flatbed. Satisfied with my findings, I went back to the 4 way intersection and out the door.  
  
I saw the CG/5000 laying on the ground still, and so I put all my strength into picking it up and putting it on the flatbed. Surprisingly, the flatbed didn't break or collapse.  
  
With this I walked all the way back to the Global Cortex building.  
  
~  
  
I couldn't really posses all these prototype parts, because it's illegal. Global Cortex is known for being bitchy like that. I went around to the auxiliary garage bay and stashed my parts in an AC parts locker. I locked it, then went away from the Global Cortex building, turned around, and came back, so it looked like I just got back.  
  
"This is Myk Linear, requesting some garage parking," I said over the intercom.  
  
"Roger, garage bay two is open for your entrance," said the Global Cortex worker.  
  
I parked my AC inside, got out, and headed straight for my dorm. I was dead tired and I needed some sleep.  
  
"RIIIIIIING!" the doorbell rang.  
  
"Damn, who the hell is it?" I yelled through the door.  
  
"It's me, Lynn," she replied through the door.  
  
"Oh, sorry, come on in," I said. Lynn walked in.  
  
"What was that all about?" she asked.  
  
"Something real personal, I don't really want to talk about it."  
  
"Something personal? Oh, come on, aren't I personal to you?"  
  
"Yeah, but this I don't really want to talk about, I'm really tired, and I think I need some sleep."  
  
"Alright then, how about a back rub?" Lynn sat on the bed with me and put her hands on my shoulders and started massaging them gently. It felt so damn good, I fell asleep. Yeah, I'm dumb like that.  
  
~  
  
I woke up in my bed. It was light outside, so I was probably asleep all night. I looked down and I was in my boxers. But that wasn't the only thing on me either. Lynn was asleep with her head on my chest. I looked around and she was only in panties. How knocked out was I?  
  
I gently lifted her head and rested her on the pillow next to me. She hugged the pillow and gave a soft moan of comfort. With that I got up and went into the kitchen and started making breakfast.  
  
A few minutes later, Lynn came out with the bed sheets covering her.  
  
"Hey," I said. Well what else could I say? "Good morning."  
  
"Hi," Lynn replied. She propped herself against the wall, kinda in a sexy pose. Well, sexy because she was practically nude underneath that blanket.  
  
It was kind of an awkward silence for a few moments, I just kinda stood there cooking eggs. She then came behind me and hugged me. Her arms were comforting. Then she started kissing the back of my ear.  
  
"Thanks for the massage last night," I said, "I kinda fell asleep during it."  
  
"Its ok, I put you in bed."  
  
She started kissing my neck, getting more "frisky". Then she brought her hands that were on my chest down lower, going slowly and gently. I realized she doesn't want breakfast anymore. I turned around and her beautiful hazel eyes met mine. She was like an angel. The sunlight from the window behind her made her light brown hair shine golden, which perfectly matched her eyes.  
  
She looked deeply in my eyes, and I could tell her heart rate went up, well, mine did too. I moved forward and we started kissing. At first, our lips were just touching. Then she put her tongue in my mouth, and I did the same to her. After a few moments of French kissing, she pulled away, and walked into the bedroom. I followed her. She stood at the foot of the bed and took off the blanket that she was covering herself with. Now she was just in panties. I moved forward and we went lip-locked again. She sat down on the bed and I had to lean over to keep our lips together. She then laid flat on the bed, so I needed to lie down with her. I got on the bed and we made out with more feeling. Then unexpectedly, she stopped, and looked directly into my eyes with her beautiful hazel eyes again.  
  
"I love you," she said.  
  
"I love you too," I replied. Well, I wanted to keep the feeling going.  
  
(The rest is your imagination, again. I don't want to have to rate this R) 


	15. Chapter Thirteen: A Normal Afternoon

(by the way, I modeled Lynn from a girl I know, whos name is Stephanie. Stephanie, I have a big huge crush on u, if Jessica or Jacen hasn't told u yet. Well, ur prolly never going to read this because I doubt ur into armored core.or even videogames)  
  
"Hey, what time is it?" asked Lynn.  
  
"12:30, why?" I asked.  
  
"Oh damn," she said, "my ride back to Neo Zion is in half an hour!" Lynn leaped out of bed and started getting dressed. She put on her underwear and strapped on her bra, then proceeded to pull her pants up.  
  
"Sorry, I have to go," she said, while buttoning up her shirt. She then went up to me and gave me a good-bye kiss.  
  
"But." she zoomed out the door before I could even start my sentence.  
  
~  
  
I moped slowly down to the recreational wing of the Global Cortex. Once there, went to the food court and got a coffee. Today is going to be slow as hell. At least this coffee tastes good. I wonder if Lynn likes her coffee black too.  
  
Random thoughts were going through my head. I decided to call up Todd and go for a game of pool. I got up and headed to the pool tables.  
  
"Myk Linear, you have 2 messages. Please come to the 32 office," announced the loudspeaker.  
  
I walked to the office wing of the Global Cortex building.  
  
"29, 30, 31, ahh, 32!" I said to myself as I read off the office numbers. I opened the door to office number 32.  
  
"Hello, Mr. Linear! Here are your messages," said the desk person as she handed 2 envelopes to me. I walked out the room to open then while walking down the hall.  
  
"Hmmm, 'This is an arena battle challenge. Chrys Zarron is challenging you at the Neo Issac AC arena this Thursday. Do you accept?'" I read aloud. I pressed the 'accept' button on the holo message. With that, I proceeded to the next letter.  
  
"This is odd," I said. It was just a tiny piece of paper, "Room 8"  
  
Room 8? What the hell does that mean? I crumpled it up and threw it behind me.  
  
~  
  
"Hey, dude! 'Sup?" said Todd.  
  
"Not much man, I got an arena battle. Some guy named Chrys Zarron," I said, "Oh, I also got a little piece of paper that said 'room 8'. What do you think it means?"  
  
"I have no idea," replied Todd, "you up for a game of VR arena battles?"  
  
"Arrite, I'm going to win you know."  
  
"So what if you beat me every time? I still beat you in the REAL arena."  
  
"I'm going to retake my position eventually."  
  
Todd and I strapped ourselves in the VR arena simulators and configured our ACs. I chose a mid-weight humanoid with quad missiles, relation missiles, normal laser blade and a MG/1000. My usual AC config. Todd chose a mid-weight humanoid too, but with a rifle, multi missile launcher, and a rocket launcher.  
  
"Ready. Go!" said the computer.  
  
I switched to missiles and fired a volley as soon as I got a lock. 4 more missiles went with the relation extensions. Todd easily dodged all 8 by boosting left. I boosted right to get a better shot at him with my missiles. I fired another volley as soon as I got a lock. A few missiles got him, but didn't do enough to stop him in his tracks. Todd started shooting me with his rifle. He's a really good marksman, and the added punch of the rifle rounds stalled my AC every now and then. I switched to machine gun and fired in a constant stream. Todd boosted up and over me, while I got a few good hits on him. Todd switched to grenades and fired one straight down. I boosted forward to dodge the blast.  
  
I turned around and switched back to missiles. I fired a volley of 8 and got a few solid hits on Todd's AC. I fired a couple of machine gun rounds at him too. I boosted up so he couldn't get a good shot at me. Todd now switched to multi missiles and fired one at me. I knew exactly how to dodge them. I boosted right at them, and when they split, they carved out too far from the center and went around me. Since I was now closer to Todd's location, I tried to go for a laser blade slice.  
  
I fired my machine gun a few times into Todd's AC. He took a knee and aimed his grenade launcher. I had to react quickly, or my AC will be blown away. I pushed harder on the booster accelerator and I flew right over him. Now that we both had our backs facing each other, I tried to turn my AC as fast as I can. Turning speed seems to get slower and slower with every newer model.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity of turning around, I fired a volley of missiles at Todd. He made the foolish mistake of boosting backwards, which doesn't work with direct missiles. I got 8 solid hits and sent his AC flying backwards. He was now overheating and had low AP. I moved in for the kill. I stabbed my laser blade right into the core to finish the job.  
  
"WIN" the computer said. With that the VR goggles turned off.  
  
"Damnit! Lost again!" yelled Todd.  
  
"I told you, you can't defeat my awesome skills," I said, bowing like an AC master, trying to taunt him.  
  
"Lets settle this.with another arena battle!" challenged Todd. Then I heard a voice behind me.  
  
"Myk!" I recognize that voice. 


	16. Chapter Fourteen: Thoughts of the Past a...

"What's wrong dude?" asked Todd.  
  
"I thought I heard a voice behind me," I said, looking behind me. I could have sworn I heard Soni's voice, "I can't go for another round."  
  
"Arrite, dude, but I think I can beat you again."  
  
I got out of the VR simulator and looked around, to see if it really was Soni, or something else. There was 3 people on the couches for the TV to my left, a foozeball game in front of me, and some people getting drinks at the table to my right. And Todd who was now shooting down AI opponents on the VR simulator.  
  
"Kick it!" said one side of the foozeball game in front of me. That must have been what it was. I must have mistaken 'kick' for 'Myk'. I decided to go see what might be on in the movie room.  
  
I went to there, and the movies that were going to be shown were "Greatest Arena Fights in History", "Amazing Battles in the Arena", and "Super-Bot Showdown". What's the difference between the three? I decided this might be a waste of time, so I went down to my dorm to see if there is anything to do there.  
  
I went to the part of Global Cortex that held the dorms. I went into the elevator and pressed the button to level 9, the floor which my room was on. Once on level 9, the chrome doors of the elevator opened and I walked down the hallway to my room. Room number 921. I put the key in the door knob and opened the door.  
  
"Holy shit!" Soni was standing right next to my bed!  
  
I stood there for a few moments in disbelief. Soni smiled and gave me a wave, but didn't say anything. I don't care, Soni is alive again! I approached her, and tried to touch her, but as soon as my hand made contact with her white and pink jumpsuit, she disappeared.  
  
~  
  
LOSE  
  
"Finally! This is the first time I beat you!"  
  
"Huh? What? O shit!" I saw my AC in flames. I must have drifted off daydreaming or something.  
  
"Dude, you just stopped doing anything halfway through!" Todd said.  
  
"Sorry, I was thinking," I replied, "I gotta go."  
  
I took off the VR helmet and headed back to my dorm. I don't even think its possible to daydream during even the most boring AC battle, especially if you're the pilot.  
  
I went up to my dorm, and took a shower. I'm actually still very clean, but a hot shower can take my minds off of things. Why did I have such a weird daydream? Especially during an AC battle? All these thoughts crossed my mind as the sound of running water calmed my mind. Then my computer gave a beep.  
  
"Incoming call," I heard over the shower. Wonder who it could be.  
  
I got out of the shower, dried myself off and wrapped the towel around me. I went to my computer and turned on the monitor. The screen opened up and Lynn was video-calling me.  
  
"Whoa! Wait a sec! I'm not completely dressed!" Lynn smiled and gave a light giggle. Why are girls always like that?  
  
"Hehe, it's ok, I just wanted to talk to you."  
  
"Alright, well, what's up?" I went into my bedroom and put on some clothes.  
  
"Well, I just want to say the other night was amazing, and I was wondering if you want to get together some time."  
  
"That sound's great! Hey, I'm having an arena battle tomorrow, so maybe you can come down here and watch?"  
  
"An arena battle? I don't really like those." Damn.  
  
"Umm, well, how about a date afterwards?"  
  
"Well, I guess so, just don't get hurt, I don't want to be all by myself. See you later!" Alright! This chick cares about me a lot!  
  
I pressed the end button to end the call. 


	17. Chapter Fifteen: Arena Battle

Fight. Evade. Attack. WIN!  
  
I pumped myself up for the battle. Sitting in your AC, waiting for the arena floor elevator to rise could be a hell. I wanted to get in a head-on, AC vs. AC, raw competition battle. No annoying MTs shooting from afar, no door to protect from oncoming terrorists, just a single AC to defeat, and that's all that is expected.  
  
I heard the roar of the crowds through the completely indestructible arena walls. I can hear the loudspeaker announcing the names, I didn't pay attention, I'm psyched for the fight. I should prepare my AC now. I looked up towards the top of the slow elevator and saw the heavy arena floor doors, and a crack of light in between. The light made shadows on the elevator shaft. I looked around my AC cockpit, just the faint red light of the cockpit hatch. I pressed the button for "start generator."  
  
The AC came to life. First, the basic systems began. On the HUD, my AP level appeared in the top left of the screen, radar in the top right, weapons and ammunition to the right, and energy levels to the left. Then the more complex systems started running. Warning systems lit up on the bottom right, enemy information on the bottom, and the altimeter activated, creating lines all across the HUD. Finally, the FCS activated and the orange box came up.  
  
"Hello, Myk, AC detected. Commence battle mode?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
I raised my right arm and prepared my MG/1000. I turned on my extensions so I wouldn't have to later. By now the arena floor door opened, revealing the arena's ceiling, probably hundreds of feet high. The bright light blinded me temporarily, and when my eyes focused, the gray ceiling and transparent blue of the crowd stands came in focus. Once the elevator arrived at the top, it came to an abrupt halt. I looked around. Directly in front of me was a very small AC, probably as small as a battle MT. I zoomed in on the picture, it was a lightweight AC, painted deep red. It had the simplest head, lightest core, a light weight model of humanoid legs, missile launcher arms, relation missiles, and vertical missiles. It was a missile boat.  
  
"Ready," the HUD displayed the word in 5 big orange letters. My heart raced. I readied my trigger finger. I checked my boosters. I'm ready.  
  
"GO"  
  
I boosted right and advanced upon Chrys Zarron. He boosted to the opposite direction of me. I straightened out my position so I was heading straight at him. I aimed my MG/1000 and fired in a constant spray. The light AC was easily stalled when it was hit. The little red robot stood there for a moment, then it's vertical missiles opened.  
  
"Warning! Lock on!" Said the computer.  
  
"I know! Prepare VMGS systems!"  
  
"Warning! Lock on! Two locks plus four relation missiles!"  
  
Chrys' AC disappeared in a white smoke as the missiles left the launchers. Four relation missiles came directly at me, while 2 vertical missiles went straight up. The VMGS picked off 3 of the relation missiles, and I shot the other one down with my machine gun. The two vertical missiles began to slow down and descend downward. I knew this was the split-missile kind, so I boosted straight up. The missile's targeting systems told it to divide, and each missile would divide into 4 separate missiles. I was still boosting up, but then I had a feeling to let a few hit me. Since I don't hesitate too often, I quickly boosted a little to the left, being nipped by about 2 missiles.  
  
The force of the 2 missiles pushed me downward rapidly, and just after that, 10 missiles flew right over my head! That volley could have annihilated me. I turned to my right to see Chrys trying to get a lock on me with his missile arms. I switched to quad missile and boosted left. Chrys had a very good FCS and was already firing 10 missiles at me. I got a lock on his AC and fired 8 missiles. Chrys boosted right, so we were boosting in a circle.  
  
The 10 missiles were still hot on my trail, so I activated my overboost and skidded toward Chrys. I took advantage that he didn't have any laser swords or energy shields, so I readied my laser blade. Another voice said to me "UP", and being in a tight situation again, I did that. I boosted straight up over Chrys and he fired 10 missiles that narrowly missed my legs. This voice seems to help me a lot, whatever it is.  
  
I reverse-boosted to the left to try to speed up my turning speed. His AC was still turning slowly around. Once he was in my sights, I switched to machine gun and pegged his tiny AC. The bullets penetrated the light armor easily, but a few rounds can't bring even the smallest AC down. He was still turning around, so I boosted toward him, and readied my blade again. Once in range, I jumped and slashed. This is a really hard maneuver to do, and it needs to be timed absolutely perfect, or you miss and risk tripping. I executed it perfectly, and my blade swept right across the top portion of Chrys' AC. The two tops of his vertical missiles were cut off, revealing only sparking stubbs, and the head of his AC was black. I win!  
  
Not really, his AC boosted backward and fired 10 arm missiles right at me, direct hit, close range. It's like a hydra shot right in the core times 4! My whole AC shook and I could see the ceiling light and a shadow on the floor alternate as I spun through the air. My AC finally hit the ground with a big jolt. I looked and could see the floor. I looked straight up to see Chrys' AC standing there, head sparking. I thought I was finished, then the AC's head exploded, and the puny AC shut down, head smoldering. Now I believe I have won.  
  
"WIN" was written across my HUD. A pleasing victory! 


	18. Chapter Sixteen: Jealousy

"Nice fight!"  
  
"You beat that guy easily!"  
  
"You got awesome skills, dude!"  
  
"Yeah, thanks," I said as soon as I got down from my AC. There were about 10 fans waiting in the garage for me. Usual fan crowd. I signed some autographs, took some pictures with fans, and talked a little about my AC. I tried to do this fast, because I really wanted to meet up with Lynn, who's transport is getting here soon.  
  
I went out of the garage of the arena and onto the street. I signaled for an armored taxi (cars aren't very safe, an unarmored car can easily become obliterated if there is an AC or MT fighting nearby) to take me to the monorail station. Once there, I looked at the arrival and departure board to see when Lynn will arrive.  
  
"Train number five from Neo Zion, on time," I read aloud.  
  
I went inside the station to wait in the waiting room. I wonder what Lynn and I are going to do. What good restaurants haven't been destroyed yet? Maybe a good arena battle would be great, but wait, she doesn't like those. Hmmm, perhaps we could just chill out at my place. Wait a sec! I haven't been thinking about Soni for quite a while. Damnit! I almost forgot about her! I hope she's alright, wherever she is. I can't believe she's still missing. It's been over a week, and I still haven't found her. I'm such a lousy boyfriend.  
  
Random thoughts ran through my head at the train station. Then I felt a cold ring, about an inch in diameter, on the back of my head.  
  
"This is a gun, get up and don't look behind you," said an altered voice behind me. I got up, remaining calm. I doubt I'll die here. The gun was then put to my back and the person walked directly behind me to conceal the gun. He then pushed me forward, and pointed to a dark alley with a door.  
  
"That way," he said. I walked casually forward. There's a possibility I'm going to get killed in a train station.  
  
Once hidden by the shadows, he pinned me against the wall, gun to my neck.  
  
"Are you ready to die?" he asked.  
  
"Nah, I don't feel up to it today," I said jokingly, I'm going get shot, so why not have some fun?  
  
"Computer, turn off voice changer," said the thug, "now do you recognize me?"  
  
It was a girl's voice! I'm being mugged by a chick! I didn't know who it was, but it sounded quite familiar. She then grabbed my shoulder and spun me around so I was facing her. Then she took off the face mask. I saw green eyes and instantly knew who it was. . .  
  
"Soni?" I asked.  
  
"Yes! You recognized me!" she said in her gorgeous voice. Soni is standing right in front of me! She moved forward and kissed me. It was a good kiss, a little long, and with some tongue.  
  
"Where the hell have you been?" I asked as she let go of me.  
  
"I'll tell you all about it when we get to a more comfy place," she replied, "we have so much to catch up on.  
  
"Damn, but I'm supposed to be meeting a friend soon," I said.  
  
"Train number five from Neo Zion, track number two," said the intercom.  
  
"Shit, she's almost here," I said.  
  
" 'She' ?" asked Soni.  
  
"Umm, that's kinda a problem," I replied, "while you were gone, I met this girl named Lynn."  
  
"You 'met' this girl, huh," she said, I sensed jealousy. I am so screwed.  
  
"Well, I met her on the mission that was meant to avenge your injury,"  
  
"Hmph, well, I guess I can't make assumptions on how close you two are, I'm alright as long as you love me more," she said.  
  
"Yeah, I do love you more," I said, but I'm still so screwed!  
  
"Alright, let's go pick up your 'friend'"  
  
We walked out of the shadows back to the track. The monorail went by and slowed down as soon as we reached it. Once it stopped, the people started walking out. I saw Lynn walk out, and when she saw me, she smiled and mouthed 'hello'.  
  
"Myk! Whats up? I'm glad to see you didn't get hurt at the arena," she said while running up to me. She dropped her bags and went straight at me with a fiery kiss. I felt her hands grab the back of my head, so I leaned forward and gently held her ass. But, shit! Soni is right fucking there! I instantly pushed Lynn away.  
  
"Umm, Lynn, there's someone I'd like you to meet," I looked at Soni, and saw a lot of jealousy in her eyes and body posture.  
  
"Hi," Lynn said, while giving a little wave. Lynn seems pretty alright, I'm just worried about Soni. Soni did a little wave back.  
  
"This is Soni, the person who I went to rescue that day when I just went out," I said.  
  
"Oh, Myk did a lot for you, it's nice to see that you came out ok," Lynn said. Soni gave a little smile, but then went back to looking a little jealous.  
  
"So where are we going?" Lynn asked. She looked at me and her beautiful eyes captured me.  
  
"Umm, I don't really have a plan, so I was wondering if you just want to chill out at my place" I said.  
  
"Ok, here, can you carry my bags for me?" Lynn asked. I picked up her bags and we headed out for the station exit. On the way, Lynn whispered in my ear.  
  
"What the hell is she doing here?"  
  
"I'll tell you later," I replied. I am so damn screwed. . . 


	19. Chapter Seventeen: Myk is screwed

Lynn, Soni, and I got out of the taxi and walked towards the entrance to the Global Cortex building. This is not cool at all! I'm guessing Soni is jealous like hell, and I bet Lynn is wondering why the hell she is here. I bet she thinks I've been cheating on her, but damnit, I have been, on both Lynn and Soni! I have no idea how I'm going to get out of this situation. . .  
  
"Hey, I think I'll just leave you two and maybe roam around Global Cortex for a while," Soni said. Thank you! I really didn't want to get in a big incident. I mouthed a "thank you" to Soni as she walked to the rec. room. I saw some tears in her eyes this time, I hope I didn't hurt her feelings too bad. Hell, I'm such a retarted boyfriend.  
  
Once Lynn and I were at the door to my room, Lynn asked me about Soni.  
  
"Why was she at the train station?" Lynn asked in a stern voice.  
  
"Well, I was waiting at the train station when she pretended to be someone trying to mug me. I was surprised that she was still alive, and I haven't seen her in over a week," I explained.  
  
"Yeah, right, well, we shouldn't worry about it, right?" Lynn said. It felt like she was desperate to have me, "just don't bring Soni up when I'm with you, 'k?"  
  
"Alright," I replied. After that, Lynn gently kissed me on the lips for a few seconds. When she stopped, she gave a big flirtatious smile and licked her lips. Damn! That turned me on! I unlocked my door and we went inside. I set her bags down on the floor and then turned on the lights.  
  
"So Myk, what are we going to do now?" Lynn asked with a big grin on her face while playing with her hair.  
  
"I'm not sure, what do you want to do?" I replied. I can't remember what I had earlier planned, too much is on my mind.  
  
"How about this, close your eyes," Lynn said. Uh oh! I felt her hands on my shoulders. "Move a little this way," I guessed I'm now facing my bed. Lynn took her hands off my shoulders and I heard her mess with some article of clothing of hers. I figured her shirt's buttons, "Keep your eyes closed!" she said with a small laugh. Then I heard her turn off the lights to my room.  
  
(next part is kinda naughty, so I'd suggest if you're a young 'un, don't read this)  
  
"Heh, what are you doing?" I asked. Just after I finished my sentence, I felt her lips touch my lips, and she dove her tongue straight into my mouth. This kiss is fierce! She wrapped her arms around me, then jumped up on me, so I was carrying her. The sudden weight change forced me to lean over and set her on my bed, but we kept our lips in contact. She then started lifting up her shirt, breaking our lip-lock for a split second only to take her shirt off. I moved my hands down to her pants and tried to unbuckle her belt. Damnit! I need to see what I'm doing.  
  
"Wait a sec," I said. I broke lip lock and looked down at her pants, trying to figure out how to get them off. Lynn looked down and smiled. Then she reached for the back of my shirt so she could take it off. She pulled it over my head, and I stopped fiddling with her belt for a moment so she could take my shirt off.  
  
"Damnit! Why the hell won't this get work?" I said. Stupid ass belt. . .  
  
"Hehe, here, let me do this, you work on your own belt, if you can do that," she said. I let go of her pants and unbuckled my belt. But before I could even get the leather strap out of the buckle, Lynn started making out with me some more. I felt as her hands went for my pants, so I guess I'm supposed to take her pants off. I put my hands on her pants and pulled them off. Now that she's just in her bra and panties, and I'm in my boxers, I went into the bed with Lynn. I turned around to pull the covers over us while Lynn brought her hands down below. I turned back to see her thong in her hand. She smiled, giggled lightly, and threw the panties behind her. I smiled back and began kissing her again. I reached behind her and unstrapped her bra. I took it off her and threw it behind me. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Fuck! Who the hell could it be?  
  
"Dammit!" Lynn said.  
  
"Hell, can you wait a second?" I said. I got out of the bed and Lynn covered herself up with the bed sheet. I walked to the door and looked in the viewer. It was Soni! DDDAAAMMMMMMIIITTT! This is not good, if Soni sees me like this, my life is over! I quickly put on my pants and shirt. I opened the door slowly. . .  
  
"Umm, hey Soni," I said.  
  
"Hey, why are is your room dark? And where did Lynn go?" Soni asked.  
  
"I, uh, sent her to get some videos from the rec. room so we can watch. In the meantime, I was cleaning my room," well, it sounds good to me.  
  
"Riiiight," Soni replied. I don't think she bought it, "so that means she's not here right now?" well, maybe she did.  
  
"Yeah, but I'm kinda busy with cleaning my room," I replied. Soni started moving forward, looking inside the room. I can't let her see Lynn's underwear, but I have to let Soni look, or she'll get suspicious!  
  
"Mind if I come in?" Soni asked. I'm done for.  
  
"Uhh, not at all," I said. I'm beginning to panic!  
  
I opened the door and let her in. I looked behind me and saw Lynn's thong. I grabbed it with my toe, kicked it up, grabbed it in the air, and stuffed it in my pocket. Now I just have to figure out where the hell I threw Lynn's bra.  
  
"Heh, you do need to clean this place up, its dirty as hell and smells like sex," Soni said with humor in her voice. How ironic. . .  
  
I spotted Lynn's bra on top of my dresser, but I walked slowly, so it didn't seem like I was trying to hide something. Soni turned around quickly, so I stopped dead in my tracks.  
  
"So, it's just you and me right now, right?" Soni asked. This is not what I need right now!  
  
"Yeeeaaahhh, but. . ." Soni started walking towards me slowly, smiling. I walked backwards slowly, but then I hit my dresser just after two steps. Soni closed her eyes for a kiss, so I quickly grabbed Lynn's bra and stuffed it in my other pocket. But I can't leave Soni hanging, so I kissed her. This kiss had some tongue, and Soni gave a soft moan of comfort. After a few seconds, she stopped.  
  
"Well, I guess I better go now, Lynn might come back any minute now, and I'd hate for you to be caught like this," Soni said. She gave a cute good-bye wave and left the room, closing the door on her way out. That was close! I sat on the bed and gently put my hand on Lynn.  
  
"Is she gone?" Lynn asked.  
  
"Yeah," I replied. Lynn took the covers off her. I took off my pants and shirt and went back in bed with Lynn. 


	20. Chapter Eighteen: New Earth Year Celebra...

"Ring, ring," I felt Lynn crawl over on top of me to reach her cell phone.  
  
"Hey, this is Lynn! Oh hey! Thanks, happy new year to you, too," she said, speaking in her cell phone.  
  
"Ow, hey!" I said.  
  
"Oh sorry, did I wake you up?" Lynn said as she got off of me. Lynn got out of bed and took the bed sheet with her to cover herself up, leaving me with just a pillow.  
  
"Hey!" I said, grabbing the pillow. I got out of bed and looked around for my boxers.  
  
"Hehe, happy new years to you too!" Lynn said, holding my boxers.  
  
"Heh, can I have my boxers back please?" I asked. Lynn smiled and gave them to me. I put them on as well some pants and a shirt. Lynn opened up her bag and pulled out some fresh clothes and got dressed as well.  
  
Today is New Earth Year's Day, which means at midnight tonight, it's going to be EY 388. Lynn, Todd, Soni and I are going to have a party to celebrate a new earth year at a VIP room in the arena and watch automated MTs fight. Then Mirage is supposed to host a performance in the arena to entertain people and show off some new parts.  
  
Lynn held my hand as we walked down the hallways of the dorm wing of the Global Cortex to the elevator. We were supposed to meet Todd and Soni at the rec. room.  
  
"Hey! It's the love birds!" Todd yelled as we walked into the food court. Todd is so immature. I saw Soni sitting at one of the tables in a distance, and I could tell there was a lot of sadness with her. I went straight to Soni.  
  
"Hey, you look kind of sad," I said.  
  
"No, I'm not, what did you and Lynn do last night?" she asked calmly.  
  
"We just watched a movie," I replied. I lied.  
  
"Oh cool, hey, do you think we can spend some time together, like alone?" Soni said. I could tell she really really missed me. And I did too, but I'm such a dick for hanging out with Lynn the first day Soni and I are back together.  
  
"Yeah, you gotta tell me all about what happened, because I was worried like shit when I didn't see you in the hospital bed."  
  
"Alright, how about tonight, we just talk, just you and me, 'k?"  
  
"Alright."  
  
~  
  
"Hello, and welcome to the Arena! Today there will be a mock MT battle, sponsored by the Arena, and after that, there will be a special Mirage Performance!" announced the speaker as we walked into the lobby of the huge arena. There were a lot of people for this event, we could barely navigate the hallways.  
  
Once we finally got into our VIP room, we examined the room.  
  
"Wow! Look at this view!" Lynn said, looking out the window. The VIP rooms are placed so that the best view possible is achieved. The floor was clear near the window so viewers can see the battle if it took place directly below them.  
  
Around the room there was a refrigerator, probably filled with beer, soda, and other beverages. There were couches in the middle for a more comfy seat. There were also some computer stations in case we needed to use those.  
  
"This is great!" I said. I jumped right onto the couch and looked out the window to a metallic gray arena. Some construction MTs preparing the Arena for the show. The Arena was being covered in red sand and a make- shift structure was being constructed.  
  
Lynn sat on the seat next to me and gently propped her head on my shoulder. She also held onto my hand. Soni went up to the window and looked out to get a better view. Todd opened the refrigerator.  
  
"DUDE! They got some Oceania imported wine!" Todd said. Oceania made the best beverages, maybe due to the fact that the whole city was underwater. Todd opened one up and went to the shelves to see what was good to snack on, "HOLY CRAP! CliffSide SunChips!"  
  
"Hehe," Lynn giggled as she cuddled with me. Soni gave me a "what about me?" look. I still remember the promise I made with her.  
  
"Hey Lynn, I promised Soni I'd catch up on things with her," I said.  
  
"Aww, well, alright, I guess so, I know you miss her," Lynn replied. She gave me a gentile kiss on the cheek and gave me a smile and a little bye-bye wave.  
  
"Finally, some time together," Soni said. She smiled. Damn! Her smile is so pure, so perfect, I had no control over smiling back, my body just did that automatically.  
  
"So what happened at the hospital? You scared the shit out of me when you weren't there anymore," I asked.  
  
"Well actually, I actually woke up while you were on the retaliation mission, and I went to Crest because they had scar-removal technology. I wanted to surprise you, so I didn't tell the nurse that I left. But don't you think it was worthwhile? See? I still have my beautiful hair and skin," Soni explained, turning her head to show that there was no trace of the wound. Well, that explains a lot.  
  
"Wow, you probably are more beautiful than before!" I said, trying to complement Soni.  
  
"Hehe, thanks," she said, blushing a little. We continued talking, I told her about my rescue mission to save her. After about half an hour, the mock MT battle started.  
  
~  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen! The Arena is sponsoring a mock MT battle of the Martian revolution!" said the announcer.  
  
There were 3 MTs, well, actually they were ACs, just automated, in the reddish flat of the Arena. They were standing in some sort of fuel plant. The 3 ACs were middleweight, with rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, chain guns, and missile launchers, just to name a few weapons. They were all painted gray. Some cool techno music began playing and the mock conversations began.  
  
"Incoming! Three radar contacts!"  
  
Three pods came from the roof. They looked like missiles, but an AC could fit in them. Then locks on the side of these pods shot off, and the shell split in two, revealing a blue AC. The other two pods did the same. The lead AC had a Karasawa, grenade launcher, and missile launcher. The other two were equipped with a rocket launcher, plasma cannon, and radar. When all three blue ACs landed, they boosted toward the structure with the 3 gray ACs.  
  
"Switch to missile!"  
  
"1 lock, 2 lock, 3 lock, 4 lock, 5 lock, 6 lock!"  
  
"FIRE!"  
  
Six missiles came at the 3 gray ACs who were now boosting toward the 3 blue ACs. The leader of the gray ACs fired missile interceptors, which got rid of three of the missiles. The other three came at the gray AC leader, so he strafe boosted right, but the 3 missiles destroyed his teammate, who was right behind him. The AC blew up in a gigantic explosion. The crowd cheered hysterically. ACs don't blow up that big, it was exaggerated to excite the crowd.  
  
The gray AC leader raised his machine gun and started gunning down the blue ACs. One of the blue wingman ACs got his arm blown off, then was shot in the face. Mars ACs are made differently than ones made on Earth. The cockpit is stationed in the head instead of the core, so the pilot can get a better view. In my opinion, its stupid, it makes loss by pilot death much more common. The blue AC fell down, arm raised, begging for help. It was dramatic, which made the crowd go crazy. The blue AC leader looked at his fallen teammate. The whole scene had a very dramatic feeling to it, like we were watching some war movie.  
  
The other blue AC wingman and the remaining gray AC wingman engaged in a duel to the death. The gray AC fired his rifle constantly at him, and got a few good hits too, but the blue AC had a much more powerful rocket launcher. The blue AC fired his rocket launcher and blew off the left leg of the gray AC. Now crippled, the gray AC switched to chain gun and began firing in a steady stream. The blue AC boosted up as he was being perforated with bullet holes, but the pilot was killed by the armor- piercing bullets of the chain gun. The blue AC landed directly on the gray AC, and both exploded in a big ball of flame. The crowd went crazy.  
  
Back to the two leaders, the blue leader was still looking at his fallen teammate. The gray leader took upon this opportunity to get the blue leader with his laser blade. The gray leader boosted straight at the blue AC, and could have almost won, but the blue leader saw him coming, and activated his energy shield. The damage of the laser blade was deflected completely. Both ACs boosted backwards. The blue leader fired his karasawa while the gray AC boosted through the air. The gray AC was still changing back to his machine gun, so he was unable to return fire. The deadly karasawa fired three shots. The first one missed. The second one blew the gray leader's right arm clear off! The crowd went crazy! The final shot got the gray leader right in the head. The crowd went insane! We could hear their loud cheering clearly even from the VIP room!  
  
The gray AC crashed into the ground and blew up in a big, orange, mushroom cloud. The crowd went into an even crazier frenzy. The blue AC continued on his mission and activated his over-boosters to the structure. He fired his karasawa into the fuel containers, resulting in even bigger explosions. The entire structure turned into a burning inferno as other fuel containers exploded. The blue AC boosted away as the structure became engulfed in flames.  
  
(if you haven't noticed, this was a recreation of the intro sequence for AC2) 


	21. Chapter Nineteen: Start of the War

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mirage will be doing a digital show of their new line of parts. These brand new parts are like nothing you have ever seen before!" announced the loudspeaker.  
  
A new techno beat started playing as the arena darkened. Laser lights started making designs on the wall that would kind of get you dizzy if you were on the lower levels of the arena. Four visual MTs came to the middle of the arena, and formed a giant TV screen. Once they created the enormous rectangle, a video started playing.  
  
"ACs of the past . . ." started the audio. This sounded cheesy as hell, "were made out of metal," well, duh, "but now, a new breed of ACs have been created!"  
  
The screen lit up with a new line of silver AC parts. They had smooth, shiny surfaces. These parts seemed familiar to me . . .  
  
"Hydrosilver metal has made AC parts that can morph into anything! No more need for repairs! Hydrosilver repairs itself!" I felt a chill run down my spine, "Weapon parts are pre-equipped into these parts. The hydrosilver molds itself to form the weapon! Upgradeable crystals are used for ammunition, and each separate crystal has a unique ability that will greatly aid you in battle!"  
  
The dream! Somehow, I have a feeling my dream I had a few weeks ago is a prophecy! Am I some kind of prophet? I doubt it, but what other explanation is there? The dream and this show are way too similar. I spent the rest of the few minutes of the high-tech ad to ponder on what the hell was up with that dream. When it was over, the countdown for EY 388 began.  
  
"Hey Myk! The countdown is starting!" Lynn said.  
  
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six," I counted down with Lynn as she held tightly onto my arm, "five, four, three, two, one, happy new year!"  
  
Lynn kissed me on the cheek. I smiled at her and she smiled back.  
  
"Happy new year, babe," Lynn said. She then turned around so she can wish Todd a happy new year. I went over to Soni.  
  
"Happy new year," I said with a smile.  
  
"Hey, you too," she replied, smiling back. I still get so mesmerized by her smile. We hugged for a few seconds. Soni is a good hugger. After a few moments, she whispered in my ear.  
  
"I love you," Soni said.  
  
"I love you too," I replied. Damn! I shouldn't have said that, that might get me much more deeper into trouble than I already am!  
  
"Ring, ring," Lynn opened up her cell phone.  
  
"This is Lynn. Hey daddy, what's up? Oh, my God! Are you serious? Are you alright? When did this happen? Alright, ok. I can do this, don't worry, I'll be safe. I'll be on the next transport to Neo Zion. Tell my mechanic to prepare my AC for battle. Take care, daddy, I love you."  
  
"What was that all about?" I asked while Lynn put on her coat.  
  
"That was my father. Neo Zion has been attacked. I've been drafted into the Neo Zion elite guard. I have to go now, sorry," replied Lynn. This is not cool at all.  
  
"Ok, be safe," I said. Lynn rushed out of the room. I hope that is not the last time I see her.  
  
~  
  
"Incoming e-mail" said my computer. I got out of bed. Why am I in my boxers? I barely remember what happened at the after party. All I remember is that Lynn left for Neo Zion, then Todd offered me a few glasses of Oceania wine. Then, well the rest is blank.  
  
"Computer, who sent the e-mail?" I asked.  
  
"E-mail is from the Neo Isaac City elite guard," replied my computer.  
  
"Mmmmmm, who is it, honey?" said a voice in my bed. What the hell is Soni doing naked in my bed? Why is the elite guard after me? How wasted was I?  
  
"Its Neo Isaac elite guard," I said. I sat down on my computer desk and opened my inbox. Soni wrapped the bed sheet around her and got out of bed. She walked over to me and sat on my lap.  
  
"This is the Neo Isaac City elite guard. In response to last night's events . . ."  
  
"Damn, how wasted was I?" I asked.  
  
"Don't worry, I bet whatever you did isn't that bad, hehe," Soni joked. She started kissing my neck.  
  
". . . we have decided to fortify Neo Isaac's defenses, therefore we are drafting you into the Neo Isaac City elite guard. This is only a temporary military role."  
  
"What the hell?" I said.  
  
"Oh my God! You've been drafted!" Soni said, this time she wasn't joking around.  
  
"You are expected to arrive at EG HQ at 10:00 am in your AC. Disobey this request and you will be executed for disloyalty to your city." Well, I guess I have no choice.  
  
"Myk, this can't be happening!" Soni said.  
  
She got off my lap and started pacing around the room. I sat in my chair still in disbelief. Being a soldier is a lot more dangerous than being a raven. A soldier has to do every mission handed to him, no matter how difficult. And they don't care how good you are either. The city views you as an expendable, not as a valued soldier. They don't care if I have to jump in a pit with a survival rate of 0.1% to save the city. All I can do is hope that my assignments aren't hard.  
  
I finally stood up in my chair. I guess I better start packing.  
  
"Myk, be safe please, we've only been back together for 3 days, and I'd hate for you to get hurt," said Soni as she held onto my arm.  
  
"I'll be fine," I said, trying to ensure her that I'll be ok, I just wish I can ensure myself I'll be ok too.  
  
With a few clothes packed, my custom machine gun in a locked case, and the key to my AC, I stopped to take what could be the last look at my room.  
  
"I'm going to give you my hello kiss, so you have to come back," Soni said. She kissed me on the lips. She put a lot of feeling into this kiss, then she took her hands and started unbuckling my belt.  
  
"Hey, I have to go though," I said.  
  
"Its only 9:45, we got some time. I just don't want you leaving to feel so bad. Anyway we did this last night," she said. Wait a sec, we did this last night? I must have been stoned as shit.  
  
She finished taking off my belt and pulled down my pants. I put my bags down. She then backed away to take off the bed sheet that covered her. After she took it off, she went forward and started kissing me in a very frisky way that had a lot of tongue. She brought her arms around me, and then jumped on me, so I had to carry her. The sudden weight change pushed me backwards until I hit the wall. I adjusted my foot stance so I could get a steady stand. I turned us around so that Soni was now with her back against the wall. She started smiling.  
  
"This might sound kind of soon, but I want us to be together," Soni said.  
  
"You mean you want to go all the way?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah, I think we can have a good life together," She said with a smile. Her smile is just so perfect, I had no choice but to obey her. 


	22. Chapter Twenty: A Drafted Soldier

I walked down to the garage to check on my AC. The beautiful red paint job magnified it's aggressive look that made it seem just as lethal as the day I first bought it. It was truly a deadly machine. I stepped onto the hover lift that took me to the cockpit of my AC. I got inside and strapped myself into the automatic control system.  
  
"Verifying pilot, pilot is Myk Linear. Welcome Myk, all systems functioning within normal parameters. No new weapons detected. Engage combat mode?"  
  
"Negative, activate auto pilot. Destination is the NIC elite guard HQ."  
  
"Affirmative. Manual piloting is required for navigating the garage."  
  
I moved my feet which moved the AC's feet as well. I navigated the hallways of the garage until I reached the hangar doors.  
  
"Activate auto pilot."  
  
"Auto pilot activated." My AC began walking a steady pace through town. I unstrapped myself from the automatic control system and sat on the floor of the small cockpit. I decided to think about what the hell is going on right now.  
  
I'm being drafted into the Neo Isaac City elite guard. Since I'm only a C ranker raven, I have a survival chance of about 50%. Not very high. I'm positive Lynn will be ok, even though she is a D ranker, and they have a survival chance of 25%. Lynn's father is an A ranker, I'm sure he'd protect her. I sure hope Soni doesn't get drafted though, she is only an E ranker, and they have a survival chance of like 10%.  
  
"Destination achieved."  
  
"Huh? Already?" Time must fly when you think hard.  
  
I got out of my AC. There were about 20 other ACs standing around. I walked over to the entrance of the HQ. Inside, many people were rushing around with papers in their hands. It looked like they all had something real important to do. I continued walking down to the hallway to where there was a bunch of consoles surrounded by a bunch of important looking guys. I'm guessing these are the A ranker ravens. Cities usually appoint A ranking ravens as generals, since they are such good pilots.  
  
"Are you Myk Linear?" said one of the important guys. He had a raspy voice and kinda freaked me out. It sounded like he was going to rape me or something.  
  
"Yeah, I'm Myk," I replied.  
  
"Arrite, we got an assignment for you. Here's the briefing. Read it on the way there. The coordinates are 55 and 70," he said as he handed me some papers. Well, now I have something that looked like I'm doing something real important. I walked out of the room and out the building. I read the title of the papers.  
  
"Escort prototype MTs."  
  
I climbed up the right leg of my AC and strapped myself in the cockpit.  
  
"Computer, autopilot to coordinates 55 and 70," I said.  
  
"Affirmative," replied the computer.  
  
I read the briefing papers.  
  
Escort prototype MTs. Payment = n/a well, so much for being a soldier now The Earth Government has reestablished the company Murakumo. Apparently, some rumors reached the Earth Government that Murakumo was researching a new kind of charge-energy cannon until they were shut down. Earth Government wants to use this new technology against the Martians who have been fighting in minor skirmishes across Neo Zion. As you know, the Martians launched a massive attack on Neo Zion the night of new earth year. actually, I didn't know that Earth government believes that the Martians attacked Neo Zion because of it is the housing for many corporations and factories, and so attacking these factories would halt any production of forces to use against the Martians. Earth Government has established the Murakumo factory here in Neo Isaac to hide it from the Martians. The new MTs are being constructed as you read this. There are 6 prototypes that Neo Zion desperately needs. Do not let them be discovered or destroyed. If seen, destroy all Martians in sight, because any outside MTs would mean there are more factories. Once at Neo Zion, help out with anything they need.  
  
"So the Martians are responsible for those attacks," I said to myself.  
  
"Destination achieved," said my computer. I looked out the HUD and saw a factory. In front of it were 6 teal MTs. They were a little shorter than an AC, but larger than a normal MT. They had 4 legs that were rather thin, and it was weird because legs that thin can't usually support weight like that. On top of the legs, there was the weapons and cockpit. The main core was like a half-sphere with white engravings that looked like swept back lines on the top. On both the left and right were 2 cannons, so in total there were 4. They looked like the new STRING cannons they have for ACs. I guess these were the MTs that I had to escort.  
  
"There's our escort," said one of the MT pilots. The 6 MTs walked over to me.  
  
"I'm Myk Linear, your escort," I said.  
  
"I'm Scott Raym. . .an. Scott Rayman," It was unusual that he stuttered, "I'm the commander of these D-types." His voice was familiar.  
  
"D-types, ok. We better get on our way," I said.  
  
"Team, Snake formation!" ordered Scott in a military tone.  
  
We headed out. The 6 D-types traveled in a single file line, and stepping in each other's footprints, I guess so they can hide their numbers. These guys are professional elite guards. 


	23. Chapter Twenty One: Unexpected Complicat...

We were waking through the wasteland that is usually between cities. It is a barren, rocky space that is easy to be ambushed from. I had to keep a sharp eye out. I don't think the D-types had any radars.  
  
"Warning, multiple radar contacts. 52 small sized units converging on this position at 10 kph," said my computer.  
  
"Halt! Some units are coming!" I said to the D-types.  
  
"Halt! Charge weapons!" said Scott. I just said that.  
  
I looked over one of the hills to see who was coming. There was a cliff wall with a door in it. A door in the middle of nowhere. Right.  
  
"Computer, where does that door lead to?" I asked.  
  
"Unknown. Requested door is not in any logs," it replied. That's weird.  
  
I zoomed in on the door, and there were trucks coming out of it, as well as humans walking. These people were shorter than usual, and a lot paler. The trucks didn't seem like they had any offensive capability at all. In fact, I don't even think they were aware that we were there. I zoomed in closer, and I noticed the people were shielding their eyes from the sun. Its like they have been in a cave for quite some time. These people were civilians! The convoy was closing in on our position when. . .  
  
"FIRE!" yelled Scott.  
  
Six blue beams came from behind me at the convoy. When they hit, blue explosions engulfed the convoy. The blasts were shortly fired by little blue machine gun shots.  
  
"Hold your fire!" I yelled. They kept firing, "HOLD YOUR FUCKING FIRE!" I said as I came up to the closest D-type and pushed it over. The other five D-types immediately ceased fire.  
  
I looked back at the convoy. There were 6 black craters, as well as many little black burns. Around the craters were some rubble, I assumed the trucks, as well as scorched bodies lying around everywhere. The remaining people and trucks turned around and were running back into the door.  
  
"What the fuck is your problem? I never gave the order to fire!" I yelled. I was flaming pissed at the D-types.  
  
"Technically, you are not in charge here, I am," said Scott.  
  
"BULL FUCKING SHIT!" I yelled, "I don't give a fuck who you are, I'm relieving you of you position!"  
  
Scott was silent and quietly got back in the front of the line. We continued going to Neo Zion.  
  
~  
  
Neo Zion was a big city, bigger than Neo Isaac. The side we came in from looked pretty untouched, but we could see smoke from the tops of the skyscrapers. There were also machine gun and grenade explosions that seemed like they were far away on the other side of the city. The D-types and I walked in, and located the NZ war HQ.  
  
"Are you Myk Linear?" said an important looking guy in the HQ.  
  
"Yeah, I'm Myk," I said.  
  
"Good, I've been waiting to meet you. I am Travis Dawnings, Lynn's father. She has told me a lot about you," Travis replied. I hope he doesn't know what Lynn and I have been doing.  
  
"Oh, its nice to meet you too sir," I replied, trying to keep formal.  
  
"Right now we need you to retrieve Lynn and her wingman. They were sent out to guard the northwest front. The front is deep in the city, so I hope you're prepared for urban warfare," Travis said as he opened up a comm. channel.  
  
"Two heli's incoming at 6 o'clock!" It was Lynn!  
  
"Roger, lets finish up these MTs!" I heard two explosions in the background, I assume the MTs, "Here come the heli's! Switch to missile!"  
  
"One, two, three, four, FIRE!" I heard 4 hisses of a missile launch, followed by an explosion.  
  
"I got the other one!" I heard machine gun fire, followed shortly by a loud screeching sound, then an explosion.  
  
"Incoming target! It's an AC!" said Lynn.  
  
"There it is! Get him!" I heard machine gun fire, and in the background I could hear an AC's boosters.  
  
"Wait! Another AC 12 o'clock! He has a rocket lock! Evade! Evade!" I heard the crunch of metal, I hope Lynn wasn't hit!  
  
"Damnit! I liked that laser blade too!" said the wingman. I assumed the left arm was shot off. I heard an AC land.  
  
"Two on two!" said one of the Martian ACs.  
  
"Heh, those earth ACs look like shit!" said the other Martian.  
  
"Eat this!" said Lynn's wingman. I heard machine gun fire, but then I heard energy blasts, "Damnit! Lynn! Go ahead! I'll be fine here behind this wall!"  
  
I heard two AC boosters ignite, I assume Lynn and the other Martian AC.  
  
"Damage check!" said Lynn's wingman.  
  
"Left arm detached," replied his computer.  
  
"Damn! Activate boosters! DIIIIIIIIEEE!" exclaimed Lynn's wingman. Following that, I heard machine gun fire.  
  
"Da*.-+=" came from the Martian AC. I guess his communications were shot out. I heard a rocket launcher fire.  
  
"AHHH(h:Hj[{]" came from Lynn's wingman. I guess his communications were out too.  
  
"What the hell?" said Travis, "Computer, what happened?"  
  
"Both Martian AC and Derek's AC are operational. Derek's AC's head and left arm are missing," responded the computer, "Update! Derek's AC is unoperational. Martian AC has destroyed it with orbital cannons. Martian AC has sustained significant missile damage."  
  
"Damnit!" said Travis.  
  
"Switch to missiles!" said the remaining Martian MT. 3 missile hisses came from the background.  
  
"Activate overboost!" Lynn said. I heard the over boost charge, then the ignition, shortly followed by an explosion. Lynn's AC was still intact, so the missiles clearly blew up behind her.  
  
"Ahh!" Lynn said. I heard what sounded like an avalanche. "Damn! Computer! Where am I?"  
  
"In a car garage beneath the platform you were on. The force of the missiles caused the roof to cave in," the computer replied.  
  
"Damnit! Locate the Martian AC!" Lynn said.  
  
"Unable to locate," The computer said.  
  
"Where the hell did he go?" Lynn asked. No sooner after she said that, I heard an AC land.  
  
"Die, bitch!" said the Martian pilot.  
  
"Ahh!" I heard Lynn scream as I heard laser rifle shots fired. Please Lynn, make it out alright!  
  
"Bastard!" I heard Lynn say, "Take this!" I heard machine gun fire followed by an explosion.  
  
"I paid good money for that laser rifle!" said the Martian AC. I assumed the machine gun destroyed his laser rifle, "Die bitch!" I heard a laser blade activate.  
  
For a moment, all I heard was laser blades clashing. Then I heard machine gun fire and metal armor being torn apart.  
  
"AHHH*x" I heard as the Martian AC was destroyed. A loud thud meant that the Martian AC fell.  
  
"I don't like to be called bitch, asshole!" Lynn said. The machine gun fire meant that Lynn finished him off.  
  
(in case you haven't noticed, this is the intro sequence to AC3) 


	24. Chapter Twenty Two: Neo Zion

"Dammit! We lost Derek! Myk, go and retrieve Lynn. Be careful though, we don't want you to run into any AC or MT squads," Travis said. He turned on the comm. channel, "Lynn, hang tight, I'm sending a 'friend'."  
  
"Friend? Daddy, what friend?" Lynn asked through the comm. channel.  
  
"You'll see," Travis replied.  
  
'Friend'? Well, at least he accepts me. I walked back to my AC and climbed in.  
  
"Welcome back Myk, engage combat mode?"  
  
"Affirmative! We're retrieving Lynn. Put Lynn's AC marker on my HUD."  
  
An orange dot appeared on the middle left of my HUD. It said "AC Shadow: 6.2 km". I activated overboosters and zoomed down the street. There were barricades with gun emplacements, along with wreckage. I boosted over them. I bet I'll really surprise Lynn.  
  
"Converging on AC Shadow's location," said my computer.  
  
"Disengage overboost!" I said.  
  
My AC slowed down. There was Lynn's AC, well, actually it wasn't hers, I guess she borrowed it from someone.  
  
"Myk? Is that you? What the hell are you doing here?" Lynn said.  
  
"Yeah, I've been drafted too. Your dad was nice enough to send me here to get you," I said.  
  
"Hehe, well we're supposed to push this battle front as far as we can get it into the hostile area. You wanna be my wingman?" Lynn asked. I'll be her man.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be your man," I said. Aw damn! Stupid subconscious! "I mean I'll be your wingman!"  
  
"Hehe, alright, we go this way," Lynn walked down the street.  
  
~  
  
"AC detected. Martian AC," said my computer.  
  
"Hey! Over there! It's that other Martian AC!" I said. The heavyweight AC was colored red, well colored red in the little toothpicks of armor he had left. The AC was propped against a building and using the rocket launcher as a cane.  
  
"We can capture him for interrogation," Lynn said.  
  
"Yeah, but how are we going to bring that heavy AC back with us without it breaking up?" I asked.  
  
"I studied Martian AC engineering, the pilot cockpit is in the head, so we can cut the head off and just carry it."  
  
"Oh, well, I knew that,"  
  
"Hehe!"  
  
We walked over to him, guns drawn in case he tried to shoot us with his rocket launcher.  
  
"Ah, the cavalry has arrived!" screamed the Martian pilot, "Shoot me now, this world is going to burn in hell! The disorder unit army has arrived!" He's obviously gone insane. Probably too much oxygen.  
  
"Shut up!" I said.  
  
"What's this about the disorder unit army?" Lynn asked.  
  
"Genius here told me to shut up," replied the Martian.  
  
"Arrite, speak up," I said.  
  
"Klein's fellowship ordered the capture of as many disorder units on Mars and send them to earth," said the Martian, "The disorder units will kill us all!" He began to show fear in his voice.  
  
"Whatever, we're taking you in for interrogation," I said, "Lynn, off with his head!" That was kind of fun to say.  
  
Lynn activated her laser blade and began picking away at the neck of the heavyweight AC. The head was bolted on tight, so it took a while. Meanwhile, I looked out for this disorder unit army. I looked on my radar. Two ACs behind me, Lynn and the Martian, but then wait, some movement coming down the street! A little spider-like unit emerged from the yellowish smog. I went up to it.  
  
"Why hello there!" I said. It was like a little robo dog. It was painted green and was about the size of a car. It had for legs and a single eye in the middle.  
  
"AHHHHHH! THEYRE HERE!!!!" screamed the Martian. What the hell is his problem? I looked at the disorder unit. It was kinda cute! I started scratching its top like it was a puppy.  
  
"Aww look, he likes it!" I joked. The Martian began flailing his ACs limbs around, but then stopped when Lynn's laser blade disconnected the wire.  
  
"NOO DON'T TOUCH IT!!!" screamed the Martian. This guy is definitely crazy. I don't think he would be useful in interrogation.  
  
"These are your so-called 'disorder units'?" I asked. Then the disorder unit looked up, and fired a single green beam at me. The damage was probably less than one AP, but it chipped the paint at the very tip of my core, the most difficult place to repaint!  
  
"Bastard!" I said. I picked up the disorder unit by a leg, "So you Martian folks are scared of things this tiny? Look at this! I bet I could chuck it pretty far!" The disorder unit started squirming, trying to be released. I tossed it up and back into my hand. I started juggling it from one hand to the other, "You Martians get your fancy-shmancy technology and energy weapons from that green little spitball?" I taunted.  
  
"AHHH!!!!!!! NOOO!!!!" the Martian has lost his mind.  
  
"You Martians are a scared of such weird things," I teased. I started tossing the disorder unit higher and higher in the air.  
  
"Hey Myk, maybe you shouldn't do that, just in case he is right," Lynn said.  
  
"Are you kidding, this thing is fun to play with!" I tossed it ahead of me, raised my machine gun, and fired at it.  
  
"Damn! I missed!" I went up to the disorder unit, who was trying to run away as fast as it can. I raised my foot, about to step on the thing, when my radar bleeped. 


	25. Chapter Twenty Three: Disorder Units

"Incoming radar contacts! Five radar contacts! 19 radar contacts! 35 radar contacts! 64 radar contacts! 107 radar contacts! Number increasing! Sizes varying," announced my computer.  
  
"Shit," I said. That was unexpected.  
  
"THEYRE HERE!!!!!" screamed the Martian. I guess he was right.  
  
"Oh my God!" Lynn said, "I got the pilot, I think we should go now!"  
  
In the yellowish smog, I saw outlines of incoming units, varying in size. As they came closer, the smog faded and I could tell what they looked like. Some were as small as the mini-disorder unit, but others were as big as my AC! They marched down the street, and some were even on the sides of the skyscraper! They moved like a green ocean towards me. I took a step back, and my foot hit some rubble. I looked behind me, and the "rubble" opened up into another disorder unit. I looked behind us, and some disorder units were unfolding, sealing off the passage.  
  
"Lynn! Get out of here!" I exclaimed.  
  
"What about you?" Lynn asked.  
  
"Give me your MG/500, I'll try to distract them all," I said. Might as well die being a hero. Lynn handed her machine gun to me, and I put it in my left hand. I heard Lynn overboost behind me over the disorder units. With her safe, I can take on all these guys. . . hopefully.  
  
"Which one of you guys want to be blessed as first to blow up?" I taunted. I raised both my machine guns put my hand on the trigger, but before I could fire, a massive dot on my radar came up. I heard loud thuds coming from behind the wave of disorder units. An outline of a giant disorder unit came up. It had to be the size of 20 heavyweight ACs combined! The other disorder units got out of its way, and the big bertha came out of the fog, face to face with me.  
  
"Ummm, pass," I said. I boosted backwards, trying to flee. Something stopped me in my tracks. I turned around to see another giant disorder unit! I'm being gang raped by a billion little green Martians and 2 big biker UFOs! That seemed kinda humorous for a second. I need a more serious look on life.  
  
Both giant disorder units started coming at both sides, cornering me inside themselves. The smaller disorder units came from the sides to cut off that way of escape too. I closed my eyes, ready to be executed.  
  
I heard an energy cannon blast. Wait a sec! I'm still alive! I opened my eyes to see one of the big disorder units slowly turning around.  
  
"Computer, who fired that blast?"  
  
"Unknown, AC is equipped with radar jamming capabilities."  
  
The big green disorder unit started firing its big cannon, but I couldn't see what he was shooting at, since he was in the way. I heard another energy cannon blast, and saw a green bolt ricochet off the disorder unit's hull and blow a big hole in a nearby skyscraper. I turned around, to see the other big green disorder unit still getting closer to me. I looked in its big dark eye and saw a green spark grow in the middle. It was about to shoot me! I boosted straight up, firing my machine guns. The weak bullets didn't even dent the disorder unit's armor. The disorder unit, with reactions slow as hell, fired his cannon right into the ass of the other one. A big hole appeared in the rear of the other disorder unit. I looked to see who my secret helper was. I could barely see it, because the sunlight reflection off the shiny armor made it hard to figure out who it was. It doesn't matter, I should help him. All the other disorder units were now firing their weapons, and a billion green flashes streaked down the street to the mysterious AC's location. It was a sight to behold! It was like a gnarly laser light show.  
  
I brought my AC down onto the back of the big disorder unit that created a hole in his counterpart. I switched to missiles and started firing them into the gaping hole in the back of the big disorder unit in front of me. I locked on with my relation missiles too, so 8 missiles were shoved up the disorder's ass. I locked on again and fired 8 more. The disorder unit was still standing! I fired another 8 into it. The disorder unit stopped moving. Sparks began to come out of the big hole, then cracks in its armor. The cracks got larger, and light shone through them. Then the whole disorder unit exploded, leaving 4 scorched stumps of its legs. The explosion must have taken out a lot of the smaller disorder units too! The whole road in front of me was black, with smoldering rubble and sparking parts lying everywhere.  
  
By now, the other big disorder unit realized I was riding him, so he started thrashing violently. I held on tight.  
  
"YEEEHAW!" I screamed. This was kind of fun, I wish earth had disorder units sooner! They're fun as hell to play with! The big disorder thrashed hard enough to send me flying into one of the skyscrapers. Rubble covered the windshield of my AC for a moment, so I couldn't see what was going on. I heard rapid fire of energy weapons, as well as the disorder unit's energy weapon. I wanted to see what was going on, so I tried to push the rubble off me.  
  
"Damnit!" I said. The junk wouldn't move. I was stuck! I activated my laser blade and started hacking away. I could still hear the fight between the disorder units and the other mysterious AC. I wanted to see what was going on! I divided the big chunk of debris into a small part and pushed it away. I looked out the window. I had to have been thrown on the 50th floor! I looked down and saw the disorder army still advancing. The one big one was still walking.  
  
I boosted out of the skyscraper and toward the mysterious AC helping me. I landed next to it and looked up. It was the silver AC from my dream!  
  
"What the!? Who are you!?" I said. I rubbed my eyes, and I saw a normal, AC, painted in pastel pink.  
  
"Oh that's right, you haven't seen my new AC yet, but right now isn't the time, we should get out of here," It was Soni! What is she doing here?  
  
"Alright, follow me, I know the way to the HQ," I said. I walked backwards and fired my machine gun into the disorder unit crowd. I was destroying some of the little ones, but the big green one still looked like it had a lot of armor left. I continued walking backwards until Soni turned around and boosted the other way. I followed her and boosted along side her. 


	26. Chapter Twenty Four: A Lost City

The disorder units started firing at Soni and I, and a whole swarm of little green rays shot past us. I heard a loud boom, and ducked. The big green energy beam of the big disorder unit soared over my head, blowing a big hole in the skyscraper in front of us. I heard metal bending. Wait a sec! We could use the building against them!  
  
"Soni! Go towards the building in front of us, then face the disorder units! Dodge their blasts and lure them closer to the building," I said  
  
"I get it, the building will crush them all!" Soni said.  
  
We boosted faster toward the building and turned around. We just stood there, boosting and strafing to avoid the beams. The big disorder unit's eye began to glow again, and he fired a massive ray at us. I boosted up, Soni boosted left. The skyscraper began to tilt some! The disorder units came closer, still firing there energy weapons.  
  
"C'mon! One more big blast!" I said.  
  
The disorder unit glowed one more time, and fired the last shot into the weakened skyscraper. The blast hit it, and a loud creaking noise was followed by glass breaking.  
  
"It's falling!" Soni said. I boosted right, she boosted left. I avoided the falling debris.  
  
I turned around and saw the skyscraper tilt, then begin to fall, and then it landed right on top of the disorder units! The loud thud of the building was so loud, I couldn't hear anything but the sound of metal crunching! The dust and glass shards started approaching me in a rapid- moving cloud. I braced myself, and couldn't see anything in the dense cloud.  
  
"Warning! Land unstable!" My computer said. Land unstable? That means the floor is about to. . .  
  
"AHHH!" I said as the floor beneath me crumpled.  
  
"Myk!=+8" I heard Soni say as the communication link was severed.  
  
I fell down. I landed, but then the force of the skyscraper landing made that floor crumple. I fell for a few seconds some more.  
  
"Computer! Activate safety foam!" I yelled. White bubbles began coming out of the vents, covering the whole cockpit. Then it solidified to a cushiony layer of pillows. I still heard metal crunching and floors crumpling, and I was thrashed around in the safety foam. I tried to brace myself and hold on to something, but damn safety foam is too soft to hold on to! I was being thrashed more violently, until it stopped.  
  
"I've landed?" I said. Something was odd. I think my AC would be standing on it's head then, because I could still see my big AP numbers through the foam. . . and they were upside down! I tried to jump, and I'm a lot lighter! Shit! I'm still falli. . .  
  
My AC landed with a loud thud and the force knocked me out.  
  
~  
  
I woke up. Everything was dark, I could only see the red light of the cockpit door. Everything else was dark. There were occasional flashes of sparks. I propped my arm up to try and stand.  
  
"Ow! Fuck!" I said. My left arm is broken!  
  
I placed my arm on top of me. It hurt like hell! I used my right arm instead. I got up and looked around my cockpit. The safety foam and darkness made it all look gray. My HUD wasn't on, so I looked out the window. There was a hole in the ground, and light was coming out of it! The light illuminated the rest of the place where I landed. I went closer to the window to see if there is an exit. I was still kind of dizzy from my concussion, but I could see enough, and there wasn't a hole big enough to get through. I turned around and went for the cockpit hatch. I opened it with my right arm and stuck my head out.  
  
"No way out," I said. There were no ways to get out! I went back inside and got my machine gun. I went outside and stood next to my fallen AC. I've never seen my AC from this angle before, charred up, dented, and not functioning. It was on its stomach, arms and legs spread out. That must have been one gnarly fall.  
  
I took out my machine gun, and used the case as a makeshift stand for my broken arm. I put my machine gun in my right hand, and then walked over to the hole light was coming out of. It was the sky! There's no way it could be the sky, then I'd be upside down and I'd fall! I waited to fall, just in case. Good, I didn't so I'm right. But how the hell is the sky BELOW me?  
  
"Damn!" I said. I couldn't see land! All I saw was a massive blue expanse and clouds! Then a small hum came up. It got louder and louder, so I raised my machine gun. A blue hover MT with 4 big arms came face to face to me! It looked like a construction MT. I backed up a little in case it tried to shoot at me.  
  
"What the hell? Who are you? No one is allowed here!" said the pilot.  
  
"Give me a ride, this gun can shoot through your armor!" I yelled back. She was just a timid construction MT pilot, so she believed me. The MT pulled up closer to the hole. I kept my gun drawn in case she tried to pull any quick maneuvers. I hoped into the cockpit and sat in the copilot seat.  
  
"Who are you?" said the pilot.  
  
"Myk Linear, what the hell is this place?" I replied.  
  
"You don't know? Everyone knows this place, it's the Nature Layer," she replied. She moved the MTs arms into the storage compartment and began taking out a big metal patch to cover up the hole.  
  
"Hey wait! My AC is in there!" I said.  
  
"You're an AC pilot? How did you get all the way to the top of the Nature Layer? No AC booster power and generator can get an AC even halfway up from the bottom?" she said.  
  
"Go up? I didn't come up here, I fell down!" I said.  
  
"Fell down? That's impossible! No one can come from above!" she said.  
  
"Well I did, and I don't have any idea where I am," I replied, "do you have a nav point, so I can come back here and get my AC?"  
  
"Yeah, I do," she said. She took a little transmitter and put it next to the hole. It flashed green, meaning it was on. The MT turned around and began going in the opposite direction she came from. I looked outside and began to see an ocean, and then land began to appear. This was a massive room, and it looked like earth! I bet 20 cities the size of Skyline could fit in here, and still have lots of room!  
  
"What is this place?" I said.  
  
"I told you already, you're in the Nature Layer," replied the pilot.  
  
"The Nature Layer for what?"  
  
"You don't even know the place where you live? This is Layered! Everyone lives here! People can't live anywhere else! Maybe you are suffering from amnesia or something," she replied.  
  
Layered? What the hell is this? I've never heard of the city Layered. The MT approached a floating platform. It was a giant platform. It had multiple runways, and there were a lot of construction MTs similar to the one I was in. The construction MT pilot landed on it, and we got out.  
  
"Hey, Michelle, who is that guy?" said one of the runway workers as he came up to us. I guess her name is Michelle.  
  
"I don't know, he was in the hull breach that I was sent to repair. He's an AC pilot," Michelle said.  
  
"AC pilot? How could he get up there?" asked the worker.  
  
"I don't know. He said he fell down and was there, not boost up into the hull," Michelle said.  
  
I felt a little queasy from standing up, and my concussion resurfaced. I blacked out. 


	27. Chapter Twenty Five: The Nature Layer

"Hey, the reason why we had so many problems with the 15th was because the Controller has been destroyed!"  
  
"Really? When did this happen?"  
  
"Like 3 days ago."  
  
"Damn, news gets here slow!"  
  
"So what are we going to do now?"  
  
"A faction called the Union is going to govern us for now, but what is really cool is that the surface has been unlocked! Some of the civilians in the 1st layer have already gone to the surface! Supposedly the surface is safe now."  
  
"What are they saying about the surface?"  
  
"I don't know, they left today, so we probably won't know until tomorrow."  
  
I heard mysterious voices. I opened my eyes, but could barely see. Everything was real blurry.  
  
"Hey look! He's awake!"  
  
"Where am I?" I asked.  
  
"You're in the 15th Nature Protector," said one person. I had no idea what that is. I got out of the bed.  
  
"What is this place?" I asked.  
  
"You're in the dorms of the 15th," said someone.  
  
"Who are you?" I asked.  
  
"It's me, Michelle, and this is Phillip," said Michelle.  
  
"Oh, hey," I replied. I stood up and rubbed my eyes. My eyes focused and I saw the two people in the room. Michelle was blonde with gray eyes. She had pale skin, which was kind of new to me. She was also short, about 5'5". Phil had blonde hair too, and gray eyes. He was about 5'6". Both of them looked up at me, since I was so tall. I had to tilt my head a little bit because the ceiling was low.  
  
"Where is my AC?" I said.  
  
"Some workers are retrieving it," Michelle said, "They should be back by now."  
  
Michelle and Phil went out the door, and I followed, nearly hitting my head on the top of the door post. We went down the hall, and went up some stairs. The stairs led to the top level, which was where all the runways were. I saw a red AC in the distance.  
  
"Hey! It's my AC!" I said, pointing in the direction it was in. I ran to it and Michelle and Phil followed. They were kind of slow.  
  
"That AC is in bad shape, the radiator is disconnected from the generator, so it can't cool it down, and the hydraulics for the left leg is completely smashed, oh, and of course, your boosters have been cut off from the energy distributor," said Michelle. I didn't understand any of that, all I saw was my AC wrecked.  
  
"Hey, you missed that the VMGS energy capacitor is damaged too," said Phil. Who are these people? Mechanic gods?  
  
"How did you all know that?" I said.  
  
"It's standard education, you should have it too, oh yeah, I forgot, you're not from here are you?" Michelle said.  
  
"From what I've been hearing, I think I'm from the surface," I replied.  
  
"You came from the surface? No one lives there!" Michelle said.  
  
"What are you talking about? There are like 12 billion people on it!" I said.  
  
"12 billion people on the surface? That's impossible!"  
  
"Well, there is, and I don't know why you people have no idea people live on the surface already," I said. A worker started running towards us.  
  
"Hey! Stay away from the surface dweller! He's dangerous!" yelled the guy. What the hell is he talking about?  
  
"What?" said Michelle.  
  
"The survivors of the 1st layered came back! They've been slaughtered by the surface dwellers!" yelled the worker. He began to pull out a gun. Phil ran as fast as he could away from me. Michelle was still standing there deciding whether or not she should run.  
  
"Are you dangerous?" asked Michelle.  
  
"Only in an AC, but not when I have a broken arm and a mild concussion," I said. The runway worker came up and pointed the gun at me. He looked like he didn't know how to use one.  
  
"Get off of the 15th!" said the worker.  
  
"Where the hell am I going to go?" I said,, walking slowly towards him. He was short, and so he looked up at me. I looked down and struck fear in his heart.  
  
"I, I d-don't know," stuttered the worker. I walked up to him until I was right in front of him. I grabbed the gun out of his hand.  
  
"Buzz off," I said. I dismantled the gun, kept an important piece, and gave it back to him. He dropped the parts and ran away.  
  
All the people here are midgets! They're scared of me, and I'm normal height. I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they see the people who are tall.  
  
"Well, you're merciful," said Michelle. Maybe she has a thing for me, but I'm not into her, I already got enough girls to worry about. I looked at my wrecked AC to asses the damage and what I need to repair.  
  
"I need help repairing my AC," I said.  
  
"That's easy, I can get it done by tonight," Michelle said.  
  
"Wait, you can get it done tonight? My mechanic can barely do it in 2 days!" I said.  
  
"It's not that hard, you must have the worst mechanic in all of Layered to have to wait 2 days," Michelle joked. Layered must breed some excellent mechanics. Michelle and I walked back to the hanger so that she could get in a construction MT. On the way, we talked. I needed to know more about Layered.  
  
"Wait, Eric said that the 1st layer immigrants were slaughtered, what was that about?" Michelle asked.  
  
"I don't know," I replied. Wait, these people are short, pale, and blonde hair. Civilians were the first immigrants. Layered is underground. These clues came together to form the answer, the D-types that I escorted slaughtered them!  
  
"Wait a sec, I think I know who," I said. I told her the whole story.  
  
"Oh my God! Are all the people on the surface like that?" Michelle asked.  
  
"No, not usually. Those were men that were given orders to shoot at anything," I said.  
  
"Alright, but you're ok, right?" Michelle asked.  
  
"Yeah," I said.  
  
After we finished the repairs, we took a transport so I could be taken to the more populated areas of Layered. 


	28. Chapter Twenty Six: The City of Layered

I moved my AC so it was leaning over the railing of the transport. Below I saw land come closer to us. It is hard to believe this is all artificial, it looks so realistic. I looked ahead and saw a giant gray wall approach, probably the wall for the giant room this place was in. The transport went to a door that was at where the land and the wall intersected. It landed and I got off.  
  
"This way," Michelle said. I followed her construction MT into the big doors. A long, gray hallway was ahead.  
  
"This takes quite a while to go down," Michelle said. Her small MT began slowly hovering down the hallway. I could run faster in my AC than that!  
  
"Watch this," I said. I grabbed the arm of her MT and pressed the over boost on my AC.  
  
"What the? Hey!" exclaimed Michelle. My AC's over boosters opened up, charged, and ignited. We zoomed down the hallway. After a few seconds, my energy was nearly out, so I deactivated the OB.  
  
"Wow! That was amazing!" Michelle said. These Layered people are kinda weird. We were already at the end of the hallway. Michelle went up to the control panel and input the password to open it. The door opened, and a massive city appeared!  
  
"Wow! This is amazing!" I said. There were cars going by, buildings that went all the way to the ceiling of the room, and multiple lights light up the street.  
  
"This is the 2nd layer," Michelle said.  
  
"Are all the layers like this?" I asked.  
  
"Most of them, except the Nature Layer and the Internal Hub," Michelle replied. She moved her MT forward and I followed. She led me down the street until we reached a warehouse. My AC was taller than her construction MT, so I lifted up the large door.  
  
"Park your AC here," Michelle said. I walked my AC, got out, and hopped into Michelle's construction MT. She flew me to a hotel I could stay at. I looked out the window as all the lights flew by.  
  
"We're here," Michelle said. I must have started dozing off. Maybe I haven't fully recovered from my concussion.  
  
We got out of the construction MT. I sat down on a seat as Michelle got a room. I reviewed what has been happening to me lately. I'm drafted into the Neo Isaac army, I saw Lynn for about an hour, I've seen disorder units up close, maybe too close, I saw Soni for about five minutes, I fell down a big hole, got a concussion, broke my arm, and I finally settled down in a massive underground city with artificial environments, and the people here have never been to the surface. I hope I've been dreaming.  
  
"Ow!" I said. I moved my left arm to get some pain, hoping I was dreaming.  
  
"Hey! Don't touch it!" Michelle said, "I got us a room."  
  
" 'Us'?" I asked. I think she has a thing for me.  
  
"My living area is all the way on the 4th Layer, and I need to stay on this Layer, because my job is in the Nature Layer," Michelle said. She definitely likes me, but I'm not attracted to her, anyway, I'm in deep enough shit with Lynn and Soni.  
  
"Alright," I said as I got up. Michelle and I walked to "our" room and opened the door. There was a table in front of me, as well as a kitchen around it. To my left was the bedroom. I was tired, so I fell straight in the bed.  
  
"Ahh! Dammit!" I said. I landed on my broken arm.  
  
"I said don't touch it," Michelle said. She came over to me and inspected my arm. She input a few codes into the mechanical cast, and the thing got tighter around my arm.  
  
"What are you doing? That hurts!" I said.  
  
"I increased the bone repair fluid, and it needs more pressure, it must have gotten loose for it to hurt," Michelle replied. After a while, the pain ceased. I tapped the cast, and I didn't feel any pain.  
  
"Ok, thanks," I said. Michelle sat down on the bed across from mine.  
  
"I've been thinking," Michelle said. She probably wants to hook up with me, "I want you to take me with you to the surface."  
  
"Ok, I'll, wait, you want me to take you to the surface?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm curious on what it's like," Michelle said, "Maybe I can work as a mechanic for you." Actually, she is a good mechanic.  
  
"I see your point, I could use a better mechanic, you did a real good job with my AC," I said, "I guess I could take you to the surface."  
  
"Great! You'll protect me right?" Michelle said. She started moving closer to me.  
  
"Yeeeaaaah," I said, backing up a little. She got off of her bed and started leaning over to my bed. I kept leaning back until I had to use my right arm to support me.  
  
"Where am I going to sleep tonight?" Michelle said as she continued coming closer. She had a smile on her face.  
  
"Ummm," I said. She was trying to get somewhere, in my pants. I kept leaning back until I was lying down on the bed. Michelle crawled onto the bed and then sat on me.  
  
"Uhh, I'm kinda tired," I said.  
  
"Pshh," Michelle said. She frowned and got off of me. She stormed into the other room. I think I pissed her off. I got off of the bed, stripped down to my boxers, and got under the covers. I was dead tired. I fell asleep right away.  
  
~  
  
"Warning! Armor low!"  
  
"Dammit!" I said.  
  
"Unknown opponent has a lock on!"  
  
"I know! Activate over boost!"  
  
"Unable to over boost, energy charging!"  
  
"What how?"  
  
"Over boosting."  
  
"What? Are you crazy?"  
  
"No, I'm not," Soni said.  
  
"Soni? What is this?"  
  
"Hell," she replied. I heard an explosion.  
  
~  
  
"Myk! Wake up! We're under attack!" Michelle said, shaking me.  
  
"Wha?" I asked as I sat up. I was in a cold sweat.  
  
"BOOM!" a loud explosion came from outside.  
  
"Initiating lockdown!" said the computer. I looked out the window and metal shudders covered them, sealing shut.  
  
"We have to get to my AC!" I said.  
  
"We can't! We're in lockdown!" Michelle said. Just at that moment, an explosion hit the building, knocking out the lights and shaking everything. I felt around trying to find Michelle.  
  
"Michelle! Where are you!?" I yelled.  
  
"Over here!" I heard Michelle say. I heard another explosion and the room filled with dust. The wall was blown away, revealing the gray street.  
  
"Michelle! Are you ok?" I yelled.  
  
"Yeah, (cough) I'm alright," Michelle replied, dusting herself off.  
  
"This way! Follow me!" I said. I ran out of the building and looked around. The streets had a few bodies lying around, along with wrecked cars. Some people were running down the street, flailing their arms and screaming. A blue flash went across an intersection that was down the street. I heard the loud thuds of an MT walk this way. From around the corner walked a teal MT, in fact, it was a D-type!  
  
"What the hell are they doing here?" I yelled.  
  
"Who are they?" Michelle said.  
  
"Those are the MTs that slaughtered the 1st layer immigrants!" I said. The D-type turned to the street we were on. It walked down the pathway, blasting the buildings as it passed. It used it's charged beam frequently. It was walking closer to our location, and then looked at us. It began to charge its beam.  
  
"We gotta run!" I yelled. I ran down the alley to my right with Michelle in my hand. I heard the explosion behind us. Once we were on the other road, I asked Michelle which way to go.  
  
"This way!" Michelle pointed down the street. I bolted in that direction. Michelle tried to keep up, but was seriously lagging. I saw the warehouse up ahead, and ran faster.  
  
"Wait up!" Michelle yelled from behind me. I stopped, turned around, and picked Michelle up. She was pretty light.  
  
"Hey!" Michelle said as I began running towards the warehouse. Once we got to the warehouse, I climbed up the stairs to a balcony that was on the right side of my AC.  
  
"Can you jump?" I asked Michelle.  
  
"Not really," she replied as I jumped onto the core of my AC. "Hey! I can't jump that far!"  
  
"I'll catch you, trust me," I said. I reached out my arm.  
  
"Trust you? You blew me off last night!" Michelle said. I get in trouble for having an affair, and I get in trouble for not having one. Life's confusing.  
  
"I'm sorry! I was just really tired!" I said.  
  
"Yeah, right," Michelle said. She began to pout and cross her arms.  
  
"Fine, I'll leave you here then," I said. I opened up my cockpit and climbed in.  
  
"HEY!" I heard Michelle scream as I closed the hatch. I turned on my AC.  
  
"Welcome Myk, multiple MTs detected, engage combat mode?"  
  
"Yes!" I yelled. My right arm raised its machine gun. I heard a small thud.  
  
"Warning, an object has attached itself to the right arm!" my computer said. It was Michelle. Immediately after that, the cockpit hatch opened. Michelle hopped inside.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?" Michelle screamed, tears in her eyes.  
  
"Well, I got you to jump," I replied with a light chuckle.  
  
"You asshole!" Michelle said as she wiped her eyes.  
  
"Sorry," I said, "you might want to sit down."  
  
I activated the booster and shot out of the warehouse.  
  
"AHHHHH!" Michelle screamed as she flew to the back of the cramped cockpit. 


	29. Chapter Twenty Seven: Attack of the Dtyp...

"AAAAIIIIIEEE!" Michelle shrieked as she was pressed against the back of the cockpit as my AC over boosted out of the warehouse.  
  
"Six MTs detected!" My computer announced.  
  
I boosted straight down the street, and took a left to where the D- type that fired at us was. He was further down that street now, and I was behind him. I raised my MG/1000 and fired.  
  
"Click, click," My MG/1000 was out of ammo!  
  
"What the hell!?" I yelled.  
  
"Sorry! We didn't have your kind of ammunition at the 15th!" Michelle said from behind me. I quickly discarded the empty weapon and switched to missiles. I checked the ammo number. 8 missiles, no extensions.  
  
"FCS, lock onto the D-type!"  
  
"One lock, linking missiles, ready to fire!"  
  
I pressed the missile launch button on my console. 4 missiles shot out of my back weapons. The D-type still had no idea I was behind him. Direct hit! The D-type fell to the ground.  
  
"Yes!" I heard Michelle say gleefully.  
  
"Computer, where are the other D-types?"  
  
"6 D-types still. . ."  
  
"Wait, it's not dead yet?" I replied before it even finished the sentence.  
  
"D-type still has sufficient amounts of armor," the computer replied.  
  
I looked at the fallen D-type and zoomed in on the wreckage. There were 4 black spots on the back of the D-type, but it was still intact. It was trying to stand up.  
  
"How the hell is that possible? Computer, can you tell me what kind of armor it has?"  
  
"Level 5 form of Hydrosilver," the computer replied. Hydrosilver? That's the stuff at the new years party!  
  
The D-type was now all the way up and turned around. It began to fire it's energy cannon in machine gun format, so I dove to the left, dodging them. I waited for the D-type to stop firing, then I boosted up and right. I locked onto the D-type again and fired my quad missiles. The D-type strafed right, but still got hit by 2 of the missiles. Now I was flat out of ammo.  
  
"Computer, discard all weapons except laser blade!" I said. I heard 4 thuds around me as my back weapons and extensions fell. Their red ammo numbers disappeared from my HUD. I went in closer to the D-type to hack at him with my laser blade.  
  
"STOP!" said a voice over the intercom. The D-type lowered its weapons as I stopped and landed right in front of him. The D-type went around me and ran down the street. I turned around to see Soni!  
  
"Soni?" I asked.  
  
"What are you doing here, Myk? I thought you died!" Soni said. She started walking her pink AC toward me. All the D-types were lined up behind her at the end of the street. The D-type all the way to the left nodded.  
  
"Why are you here?" I asked.  
  
"Well, why are you. . ." her AC disappeared in a flash of blue light. When the smoke cleared in front of me, I saw Soni's scorched and smoking AC next to me. The D-types all had their cannons emptying blue canisters. They just executed Soni!  
  
"You mother fuckers!" I screamed with rage. I activated the over boost and charged toward the D-types.  
  
"Shoot at him!" I heard Scott say.  
  
"You will die today!" I yelled at Scott. I went after the AC furthest to the left, which was the one Scott was in. I activated my blade and brought it back. Once I was in range, I drove my blade straight forward. This maneuver is usually done by hovers, treads, and quads, but can work for bi-peds too. The laser blade went straight into his left cannon. The blackened cannon began sparking blue sparks, and blew up in a light explosion, pushing Scott and I back. I regained my balance and Scott was still standing. I needed to get a gun! I over boosted to Soni's AC's remains. A chill ran down my spine as I went closer to the blackened remains of her. . .  
  
"I'm sorry," I gently said. I picked up the right arm weapon that she had.  
  
"New weapon detected!" my computer announced. The weapon is still functional, "R/M/S/SR equipped! 90% of ammo remains."  
  
R/M/S/SR? That is an unusual name for a weapon. It doesn't matter, I raised the weapon and pressed the trigger. "Cannot fire! Please choose mode of fire!" my computer said.  
  
"What? I don't care! Any!" I said.  
  
"Analyzing enemies that remain. . .most effective mode would be machine gun. . .switching weapon to machine gun," my computer said. It took a valuable 15 seconds to do this! All the while I was boosting and strafing through the air to dodge the D-type blasts. When the gun actually allowed me to shoot, I aimed it at the closest D-type, and pulled the trigger.  
  
The weapon began to buzz and shake so violently, I had to stabilize it with my other hand. This weapon had to have had a reload speed of maybe 1/4th. The spray of bullets came at the D-type. At first, the bullets deflected off of his armor and his AC shook violently as he was pushed by the force of the bullets, but after a good 20 seconds, they began to penetrate the armor. The D-type shook more and more violently as a hole in the center of the core grew bigger as more bullets went into it. Pretty soon the D-type fell backwards, not moving.  
  
"Computer! Switch the gun to a different mode! Maybe the S thing!"  
  
"Shot gun mode engaged," the computer replied. I pointed the gun at the next D-type. He charged his weapon and fired, but I strafed to the left and fired the shotgun. I was still at a distance, so the blast didn't do much damage. I moved in closer to increase the damage.  
  
"Hit him, dammit!" Scott yelled over the intercom.  
  
I came closer to the next D-type who was beginning to back away, firing his cannons rapidly. I took a few light hits, but still approached him. Once I was in range, I put the barrel of the gun right to the armor and fired. It must have blown a hole right through the D-type! The D-type crumpled over, sparks and smoke coming out of the exit wound. Next I turned to the 4 D-types that were left.  
  
"Computer, damage report!" I asked.  
  
"65% of armor remains," the computer replied.  
  
"Switch my weapon to the R thing."  
  
"Rifle mode engaged," the computer said as I started boosting toward the remaining D-types. 3 of them began to back away. The leader, Scott, stood his ground.  
  
"You have no idea what you're up against," Scott calmly said over the intercom.  
  
"You will pay for killing Soni!" I yelled back.  
  
"She's not dead, but you will be! Engage level 1 hydrosilver!" Scott said. The teal armor of his D-type began to vibrate. The teal eventually became silver, then it smoothed out to become a shiny surface. The legs converged into a pair of heavyweight legs. Next the cannons on the side of the former D-type extended into heavyweight arms. The damage I caused to the right cannon didn't make any difference. A howitzer and rocket launcher appeared in the hands. The core grew to be larger, and a head emerged from the top. Two poles came out of the back, then solidified into vertical missile launchers. The shiny silver surface began to turn dark orange and solidified into sturdy heavyweight armor.  
  
"You're Scott Ray. . ."  
  
"Raymir," Scott said, finishing my sentence. He overboosted straight at me. . . 


End file.
